On Tuesday, an FIR was lodged against controversial SP leader Azam Khan at the Hazratganj police station of Lucknow for allegedly passing derogatory remarks against father of the Indian constitution and Dalit icon- Dr. Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar.
According to the Indian Express report, the FIR was filed by the Ambedkar Mahasabha general secretary- Amar Nath Prajapati. He alleged that during the inauguration of Haj House in Ghaziabad in 2016, Azam Khan made an “objectionable” statement against Dr. B.R Ambedkar, dubbing him as “someone who grabs land”.
Azam Khan had said, “All across Uttar Pradesh, there are statues of a person whose finger seems to say that not only does it own the plot of land on which it is standing, but also the plot towards which it is pointing its finger.”
The FIR against him has been registered under IPC sections 500 (defamation) and 505 (statements conducing to public mischief).
It would be interesting to see what would be BSP supremo Mayawati’s reaction on these recent developments. She is currently in a pre-poll alliance with the SP. In reverence of Dalit icons she constructed Rashtriya Dalit Prerna Sthal which includes statute of B.R Ambedkar besides Kanshi Ram and Mayawati herself. She installed statues of Ambedkar at many other places in Uttar Pradesh and now she is alliance with a party whose one of the most powerful leader insulted an icon so dear to Mayawati. In 2016, when Azam Khan made a disrespectful remark against Ambedkar, Mayawati demanded an apology from Azam Khan. She had said, “If Khan cannot give proper respect to the great leader because of the casteist policies of his party, he should at least not humiliate him.” She had further added, “Khan should tender an apology for hurting the sentiments of Babasaheb’s followers by issuing such wrong and controversial statement.” Now, two years after SP leader’s objectionable remark against Ambedkar, Mayawati is in alliance with the same party for her own political interests.
At a time when all is not going well between the SP and BSP, surfacing of such objectionable statements against Ambedkar is only going to exacerbate things. It will also create rift between supporters of SP and BSP. Already all is not well between Dalits and Yadavs. There exists a traditional rivalry between both the communities and objectionable and old statements SP leaders will only add fuel to fire. It also shows that all those talks of Dalit-Muslim unity are bogus and hollow at all the levels.
As far as, Azam Khan is concerned everyone knows that he motor mouth and in the past he had made so many controversial statements against his political opponents and majority community. He did not even spared the Army. On June 27th, 2017 Azam Khan appeared in a video giving a statement against the Indian Army where he had wrongly blamed the Indian Army soldiers of committing rape. He was caught on video saying, “Generally heads or hands are cut off. But on this occasion, the female terrorists cut off the private parts of the men. They didn’t have complaints against the hands, heads or feet. They had complaints specifically against the private parts so they cut and took them off. It is a huge message for which the entire country should be ashamed and think how we’ll face the world.”
#WATCH Senior SP leader Azam Khan's statement on the Army pic.twitter.com/17v4x6I92A
— ANI UP/Uttarakhand (@ANINewsUP) June 28, 2017
His statements had caused uproar in the country and people throughout the nation slammed the leader for his anti-Army remarks.
For more details: UP govt. approves filing of chargesheet against SP leader Azam Khan for insulting the Indian Army
He also blamed jobless Hindus for riots and violence. Azam Khan was quoted as saying, “I have been demanding that only boys and girls of the majority community should be provided with employment opportunities so that they are busy with their works. This will keep them from taking up arms and prevent riots. The country has moved towards anarchy and it would be better if the youth started selling pakoras as advised by the PM.”
For more details: Azam Khan just blamed “Jobless Hindus” for riots and violence
Samajwadi Party leader Azam Khan is prone to giving controversial statements and for uttering unhinged comments. It seems that controversial statements made by him are coming back to haunt his party.