Campaigning for civic polls, the senior Samajwadi Party leader was in the midst of Rampur people after a long time because of his prolonged illness and the long time he was made to spend in jail having been booked in nearly 100 cases.
Team Clarion
NEW DELHI — Senior Samajwadi Party leader Azam Khan fears that he and his family members will be shot dead like former member of parliament Atiq Ahmed and his brother who were gunned down in broad daylight in police custody earlier this month in Prayagraj.
Campaigning in Rampur for civic polls on Friday, Azam Khan, a 10-time member of the Uttar Pradesh Assembly and former member of parliament, asked people whether they want him and his family to be killed like Atiq and his brother, according to media reports.
He also came down heavily on his opponents calling them “political eunuchs”.
Atiq and his brother, Ashraf Ahmed, were killed by three gunmen in Prayagraj while being escorted by about a dozen police personnel for a routine medical checkup. Their assailants gave a communal twist to the sordid saga by reportedly shouting the Hindu slogan ‘Jai Shri Ram’. The two were killed hours after the last rites of Atiq’s son Asad Ahmed, who was gunned down in a police encounter in Jhansi two days ago.
Addressing campaign rallies in Rampur, Azam Khan said: “What do you want from me and my children? Do you want someone to come and shoot us in the head? That’s all that is left…, save Nizam-e-Hind, save the law, you don’t have to offer anything, you just have to encourage yourself. Sit wherever you get stopped and try to move forward instead of stepping back.”
Azam Khan was disqualified from the Assembly in October after a court sentenced him to three years in jail in a hate speech case. The case was registered against Khan in April 2019 for levelling serious allegations against administrative officials posted in Rampur, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and state Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, reports in a section of the media said on Saturday.
Azam Khan was in the midst of the Rampur people after a long time because of his prolonged illness and the long time he was made to spend in jail having been booked in nearly 100 cases.
“We will cast our vote, it’s our birthright but that too has been snatched from us twice, if it gets snatched for the third time then you won’t even have a right to breathe,” he said referring to his disqualification from the assembly.
Azam Khan campaigned for Samajwadi Party candidate Fatima Zabi, contesting for the presidential post of Rampur municipality.
Azam Khan, well-known for his sarcastic statements assailed BJP-led governments at the Center and in Uttar Pradesh and ended up calling his opponents “political eunuchs”.
“Those who are saying today that the municipality is on contract, they had put the whole country on contract, Red Fort has been sold, airports have been sold, ports have been sold, railways have been sold. What is left? Only the army is left. It’s with Hukumat-e-Hind (Government of India), it should remain. Our army and the government’s army are two different things. Our army is yours and we have seen this army fighting at every corner and have won,” Khan was quoted by media reports as saying.
“‘Vazir-e-Azam’ (Prime Minister) of India has mentioned your Rampur Assembly seat in a Hindustan of 150 crore people, this is your status. There is so much fear of you, and this fear is not of any caste, nor of my being a minister, nor of my being an MP or MLA, but it’s the fear of our unity and the trust we share. Whatever happened, whether I remain a member of the legislative Assembly or not, a person who’s in his young age, his legislature was abolished twice, mine and Abdullah’s (his son) right to vote was abolished,” he was quoted as saying.
