Samajwadi Party (SP) leader Amar Singh has defended the allegedly communal speech by actor Sanjay Dutt in Mau (eastern Uttar Pradesh) on Tuesday.
Referring to the TADA case against him, Dutt had said the police used third degree torture on him because his mother, Nargis, was a Muslim. “Yeh police waale maartey thay mujhay, yeh kah kar ki teri maa Musalman hai (The cops used to beat me up saying that your mother is a Muslim),” he said in his speech
A case has been registered in Mau police station against Dutt and party candidate Arshad Jamal. They have been charged with inciting communal feelings under various sections of the Indian Penal Code and the Representation of the People Act.
On Wednesday, Amar Singh went a step further daring the Mayawati government to arrest him. “If Mayawati wants she can register an FIR against me and send me to jail like Varun Gandhi... we will emerge heroes, we don’t fear these things,” he told reporters here.
Amar Singh said he was present when Dutt made his speech. “He has not said anything wrong... Sanjay Dutt is a law-abiding citizen. Till the Tada case was sub judice, he did not speak. But now that he has been acquitted, he is relating his experiences,” he said.
The state Election Commission (EC) has asked the district magistrate to file a report and also asked for a CD of Dutt’s speech.
