After Durga, it’s Kanwal
8 Aug 2013 8:48 PM GMT
Amidst all-round criticism over the suspension of Durga Shakti Nagpal over the alleged demolition of an illegal construction of a wall of a mosque, UP police arrested an eminent Dalit thinker Kanwal Bharati for his posts on Facebook. This shows how arrogant the UP government has turned against its critic over Nagpal episode. Bharati was accused of hurting Muslim sentiments and creating communal tension in the state.
Anyone who is familiar with the writings of Bharati knows that as a writer he does not write against Muslims, even though he has written against some corrupt leaders, who happened to be Muslims. In his some of his posts on Facebook, he was raising the issue of demolition of an old madarsa in Rampur, which is his hometown. He was critical of Akhilesh government for taking action against Durga Shakti Nagpal for alleged demolition of an illegal construction of a wall of a mosque, but not taking any action against the officers, who bulldozed the madarsa at Rampur. He claimed that even the manager of the madarsa was put behind bar for opposing the bulldozing. Bharati was criticising the media for not taking up the incidents of Rampur. He had also mentioned the fact that in Rampur, it is not Akhilesh, who runs the show, but it is Azam Khan who calls the shots. Anyone could draw inference that Azam Khan might have been behind the demolition of the madarsa.
Anyhow, he was not raising an issue, which can be termed as anti-Muslim or something hurting the sentiments of the Muslim causing communal passions among them. The crime of Kanwal Bharati was that he was persistent in his efforts to raise the issue of demolition of madarsa and he was attacking the TV channels and other media for not reporting the incidents of Rampur. This enraged the strongman of Rampur, Azam Khan. One of his aides filed an FIR against Bharati under IT Act. The police was quick to register the FIR and equally quick to arrest him. His computer was also seized.
Anyway, he was bailed out by the court, but his computer is still in the possession of the police.
Kanwal Bharati’s episode combined with Nagpal suspension, gives a very bad name to Mulayam Singh Yadav, who is aspiring to become the next prime minister of India and winning over 50 seats for his party in his home state Uttar Pradesh. It is baffling for some political observers that why is he so adamant over the Nagpal episode, when all reports relating to the alleged demolition of the mosque wall suggests her innocence. The report of DM said that the mosque wall was not demolished by Nagpal, villagers themselves demolished that after getting the counsel from the SDM to take permission first and then construct that.
CM Akhilesh Yadav claimed that he took action on the basis of LIU (Local Intelligence) report. Later on, the report was made public and it came out that in that report, even the name of Durga Shakti Nagpal was not mentioned. The report tells a different story. According to it, the village did not come into the Noida Subdivision, which had Nagpal as its SDM, but it was part of Jewar Subdivision, who had another SDM named Bachhu Singh. It was further revealed that Bachchu Singh is related to Mulayam Singh Yadav.
Now, Akhilesh Yadav is saying that he not only depends on the report of DM or LIUs, but also on the report of local people. For making things worse for the CM, Sunni Wakf Board has also revealed that there was no communal tension in the village concerned and Muslims did not harbor any bad feelings for Durga Nagpal, who was trying honestly to free acres of Wakf Borad land from the illegal possession of the land mafia. This shows that Nagpal was popular among Muslims too and they had high opinion for her. This may be the reason, why they themselves demolished the wall after getting her advice. Muslims could not have been against an officer, who was trying honestly to recover the Wakf Board land grabbed illegally by the land mafia.
Neither Nagpal, nor Kanwal Bharati has done anything against the Muslim community. They had done nothing, which could have hurt their sentiments and caused communal passion. Still, Samajwadi Party and its leaders are trying to paint them as anti Muslims. Why does this show? The reason is not difficult to find out. Samajwadi Party and its leaders badly need the support of Muslims in the next Lok Sabha elections, which will be mainly fought between Congress and BJP. Before, Assembly elections, SP had promised a lot for the Muslims and it failed to meet its promise. Mulayam Singh was talking of giving 18 per cent reservations for Muslims in government jobs, but he cannot give it. Dozens of riots have taken place after the Assembly elections and Muslims have suffered a lot in them. In Ghaziabad, seven Muslims were killed in the police firing and no action has been taken against the erring police officers. In Kunda, a Muslim DSP was killed and the family of his killers got Rs 40 Lakh from the government. Naturally, there is resentment against SP among the Muslims and the fact that it will be BJP versus Congress in the Lok Sabha elections, the leaders of SP are nervous. The position of Muslim leaders like Azam Khan within SP depends upon their ability to grab Muslim votes for the party.
That is why the SP leaders have taken refuge in the politics of mosque to get their votes and make them convinced that only they can take care of their concerns.
The posts of Kanwal Bharati were exposing the SP leaders of their dishonesty towards the Muslims. Azam Khan would have been the biggest loser among the Muslims, if it were revealed that he could not save an old madarsa from demolition by the government. Therefore, Kanwal Bharati was booked in the IT Act and his computer was seized.
Anyone who is familiar with the writings of Bharati knows that as a writer he does not write against Muslims, even though he has written against some corrupt leaders, who happened to be Muslims. In his some of his posts on Facebook, he was raising the issue of demolition of an old madarsa in Rampur, which is his hometown. He was critical of Akhilesh government for taking action against Durga Shakti Nagpal for alleged demolition of an illegal construction of a wall of a mosque, but not taking any action against the officers, who bulldozed the madarsa at Rampur. He claimed that even the manager of the madarsa was put behind bar for opposing the bulldozing. Bharati was criticising the media for not taking up the incidents of Rampur. He had also mentioned the fact that in Rampur, it is not Akhilesh, who runs the show, but it is Azam Khan who calls the shots. Anyone could draw inference that Azam Khan might have been behind the demolition of the madarsa.
Anyhow, he was not raising an issue, which can be termed as anti-Muslim or something hurting the sentiments of the Muslim causing communal passions among them. The crime of Kanwal Bharati was that he was persistent in his efforts to raise the issue of demolition of madarsa and he was attacking the TV channels and other media for not reporting the incidents of Rampur. This enraged the strongman of Rampur, Azam Khan. One of his aides filed an FIR against Bharati under IT Act. The police was quick to register the FIR and equally quick to arrest him. His computer was also seized.
Anyway, he was bailed out by the court, but his computer is still in the possession of the police.
Kanwal Bharati’s episode combined with Nagpal suspension, gives a very bad name to Mulayam Singh Yadav, who is aspiring to become the next prime minister of India and winning over 50 seats for his party in his home state Uttar Pradesh. It is baffling for some political observers that why is he so adamant over the Nagpal episode, when all reports relating to the alleged demolition of the mosque wall suggests her innocence. The report of DM said that the mosque wall was not demolished by Nagpal, villagers themselves demolished that after getting the counsel from the SDM to take permission first and then construct that.
CM Akhilesh Yadav claimed that he took action on the basis of LIU (Local Intelligence) report. Later on, the report was made public and it came out that in that report, even the name of Durga Shakti Nagpal was not mentioned. The report tells a different story. According to it, the village did not come into the Noida Subdivision, which had Nagpal as its SDM, but it was part of Jewar Subdivision, who had another SDM named Bachhu Singh. It was further revealed that Bachchu Singh is related to Mulayam Singh Yadav.
Now, Akhilesh Yadav is saying that he not only depends on the report of DM or LIUs, but also on the report of local people. For making things worse for the CM, Sunni Wakf Board has also revealed that there was no communal tension in the village concerned and Muslims did not harbor any bad feelings for Durga Nagpal, who was trying honestly to free acres of Wakf Borad land from the illegal possession of the land mafia. This shows that Nagpal was popular among Muslims too and they had high opinion for her. This may be the reason, why they themselves demolished the wall after getting her advice. Muslims could not have been against an officer, who was trying honestly to recover the Wakf Board land grabbed illegally by the land mafia.
Neither Nagpal, nor Kanwal Bharati has done anything against the Muslim community. They had done nothing, which could have hurt their sentiments and caused communal passion. Still, Samajwadi Party and its leaders are trying to paint them as anti Muslims. Why does this show? The reason is not difficult to find out. Samajwadi Party and its leaders badly need the support of Muslims in the next Lok Sabha elections, which will be mainly fought between Congress and BJP. Before, Assembly elections, SP had promised a lot for the Muslims and it failed to meet its promise. Mulayam Singh was talking of giving 18 per cent reservations for Muslims in government jobs, but he cannot give it. Dozens of riots have taken place after the Assembly elections and Muslims have suffered a lot in them. In Ghaziabad, seven Muslims were killed in the police firing and no action has been taken against the erring police officers. In Kunda, a Muslim DSP was killed and the family of his killers got Rs 40 Lakh from the government. Naturally, there is resentment against SP among the Muslims and the fact that it will be BJP versus Congress in the Lok Sabha elections, the leaders of SP are nervous. The position of Muslim leaders like Azam Khan within SP depends upon their ability to grab Muslim votes for the party.
That is why the SP leaders have taken refuge in the politics of mosque to get their votes and make them convinced that only they can take care of their concerns.
The posts of Kanwal Bharati were exposing the SP leaders of their dishonesty towards the Muslims. Azam Khan would have been the biggest loser among the Muslims, if it were revealed that he could not save an old madarsa from demolition by the government. Therefore, Kanwal Bharati was booked in the IT Act and his computer was seized.
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