Lucknow: Right to vote for Muslims should be ended if members of the community are not allowed to exercise this right, veteran Samajwadi Party leader Azam Khan told ThePrint in an exclusive interview.
The SP leader’s remark came in the backdrop of bypolls for Rampur and Azamgarh Lok Sabha constituencies held last month, in which the SP suffered a loss.
Commenting on the low voter turnout in the Rampur bypoll, Khan alleged harassment of Muslim voters and said he favoured ending voting rights for Muslims if they were not allowed to exercise that right.
While according to the election commission, the total voting percentage in Rampur bypoll stood at 41.39 per cent, Khan claimed that the percentage was only around 32 per cent in the entire district.
Khan also said that it was he who had suggested to party chief Akhilesh Yadav to not canvas in Rampur ahead of the polls, so that it does not turn into a “VVIP election”. The SP leader claimed this could have led to “more harassment” for Muslim voters.
The SP chief’s absence from the bypoll campaign had raised many eyebrows and drawn jibes from rival BJP.
Khan also cleared the air on his meeting with Uttar Pradesh MLA and Akhilesh’s uncle, Shivpal Yadav, during his time in jail, and alleged that his bail was delayed because he was a Muslim.
Khan is an accused in 93 cases in UP, which include allegations of land grab, getting opponents’ homes demolished and stealing ancient books.
‘Muslim voters thrashed, police hurled abuses at them’
“Only 32 per cent from Rampur voted in the entire district (voted),” Khan told ThePrint.
He alleged: “When people are beaten with sticks, abuses are hurled at them, their beards pulled, will you go to vote in such a scenario? Amar Ujala (a Hindi newspaper) wrote about how Muslims were being hit and women made to run away. When people in your colony and mohalla (area) get to know what is happening (your experience), they won’t go to vote either.”
“So I am in favour of ending voting rights for Muslims, because they are not being allowed to vote, because their vote can help change the government. They are being harassed as their vote can bring a political change,” Khan claimed.
Khan said that he wants three rights for Muslims — right to life, right to religion and right to education. “These three rights should be granted by the Parliament via a law,” he said. The three rights being demanded by Khan are already part of the fundamental rights guaranteed by the Constitution.
Asked about the reasons for the SP’s defeat in Azamgarh, Khan said that the same things were witnessed in Azamgarh but with lesser gravity.
“There it was less, here more. Here, there was a Muslim candidate (Rampur) who was weak, Azamgarh had a strong candidate from a powerful and good family who was not a Muslim,” he said.
Asked if the situation would have been different had SP chief Akhilesh Yadav canvassed for the candidates in the two bypoll seats, Khan claimed it would have led to more harassment for the voters.
“I myself stopped him (Akhilesh) from coming here, saying that it should not be made a VVIP election. Had he come, the election would have become a VVIP election. The real truth was that the motive (of the BJP) was to defeat Azam Khan, then (in case Akhilesh campaigned) it would have been to defeat Akhilesh and Azam both, at least now it is only me,” he said.
Speaking about the future of his politics in Rampur, Khan claimed that nobody could defeat him in Rampur, provided elections are held in an “unbiased” manner.
On kabaristan and shamshaan
Khan, who had extensively campaigned for his aide and SP candidate Asim Raja in Rampur, said that he was not very anxious about his own future or his son Abdullah Azam’s future. Also a member of SP, Abdullah represents the state’s Suar constituency in the UP legislative assembly.
“I am not very anxious about my own and my son’s future, but Muslims should not be harassed. Sticks should not be used on them, their beards should not be pulled. The difference between kabaristan (burial ground) and shamshaan (cremation ground) should not be told to them,” said Khan.
He added: “This travesty should not happen… These allegations that one would not get electricity on Holi and Diwali, but on Eid. I say that even if the most rigid Muslim ruler becomes a CM, he would not have dared to give electricity on Eid and deny it on Holi and Diwali. Responsible people of the BJP have said these things.”
Khan was referring to UP CM Yogi Adityanath’s remarks at a poll rally ahead of this year’s assembly elections, in which he had claimed that the previous Akhilesh Yadav government did not provide electricity to people on Holi and Diwali, but there was always power on Eid and Muharram.
‘Met Shivpal while in jail because…’
Khan, who had spent about 27 months in jail because of the 93 cases pending against him, before being released on bail on 20 May, had made headlines when he denied a meeting with an SP-delegation led by MLA Ravidas Mehrotra on 24 April, but met Akhilesh’s estranged uncle and Pragatisheel Samajwadi party-Lohia chief Shivpal Yadav on 22 April.
Courtesy: The Print
