Mayawati demands apology from Azam Khan

Lucknow Sep 7 Condemning senior Samajwadi Party leader Azam Khan for his controversial remark on B R Ambedkar, BSP president Mayawati today demanded an apology from him for hurting the sentiments of Babasaheb's followers.

"We strongly condemn Azam Khan for his controversial remark on Babasaheb and hope that if he (Khan) cannot give proper respect to the great leader because of the casteist policies of his party, he should not also try to humiliate him by making false statements," she said.

"It is one thing if Azam Khan's statement is part of any electoral politics under the casteist policy of the Samajwadi Party, or else he should tender an apology for harming the sentiments of Babasaheb's followers by issuing such wrong and controversial statement," Mayawati said in a statement issued here.

On a visit to Ghaziabad on Monday to inaugurate the Haj House, Khan without naming Ambedkar had said that "the statue (of Ambedkar) pointing its finger into the distance seems to say that not only does it own the plot of land on which it stands, but also the one towards which it points its finger."

PTI