SP sacks Kamaal Farooqui as party secretary over Bhatkal remarks

Lucknow, Sept 5: The Samajwadi Party government of Uttar Pradesh has sacked its national secretary Kamaal Faruqui after he raised question on the arrest of Indian Mujahideen (IM) co-founder Mohammed Ahmed Sidibapa alias Yasin Bhatkal.

SP General Secretary Ram Gopal Yadav today shot off a letter to Faruqui informing him that party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav has removed him as Secretary of the SP National Executive with immediate effect.

On Friday, Faruqui had given a controversial statement over the arrest of Yasin Bhatkal, asking whether it is based on the grounds of crime or religion.

He told a news channel, "Is this arrest based on crime or religion? If he is a terrorist, then he should not be spared but if he has been arrested just because he is a Muslim, then caution should be exercised as we don't want to send a wrong message to the entire community."

He also said that the police should ascertain whether the arrest is based on the grounds of crime or religion.

The SP government had distanced itself from the remarks saying they reflected Farooqui's personal views.

He had later apologised for his remark stating that his comments were misunderstood.

Following his controversial comments, the BJP leader Ravi Shankar Prasad had condemned Farooqui's remarks.

The Congress also said that Farooqui's statement is baseless and should not be given much importance.

Faruqui said, "Yasin Bhatkal has been arrested because he is Muslim".

Bhatkal was arrested by the Special Task Force team near the Indo-Nepal border after a long hunt for him.

After his arrest, he was brought to Delhi and produced before the Patiala court on Friday.

OneIndia News