Rahul Gandhi, who has been calling upon the youth to participate in the country’s politics, had to face the ire of students and youngsters in Azamgarh on Wednesday. The youth were raising slogans against the Congress Party and demanding an inquiry into the Batla House encounter. They also burnt an effigy of the Congress leader, while Rahul had to virtually flee the site without taking out the proposed rally.
Meanwhile, Congress general secretary Digvijay Singh has shocked many in the party by raising a finger at Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Home Minister P Chidambaram over the encounter. The Samajwadi Party (SP) and the BJP also took the opportunity to trade guns Congress Party.
“The Batla House encounter was a fake encounter. I had demanded a judicial inquiry into the matter,” Digvijay Singh told the media in Azamgarh on Wednesday. “However, the Prime Minister and the Home Minister thought that it was a genuine encounter. That is why we did not persist our demand (for an inquiry),” he added, virtually putting Manmohan Singh and Chidambaram in the dock.
The Delhi Police had carried out an encounter in Delhi’s Batla House area on September 19, 2008 and shot dead two youngsters alleged to be terrorists. A Delhi Police inspector MK Sharma was also killed in the shootout. Both the boys belonged to Azamgarh. The Delhi Police later raided Sanjarpur in Azamgarh several times in search of other alleged terrorists. Digvijay Singh had visited Azamgarh soon afterwards to assuage the minorities’ feelings.
Earlier in the day on Wednesday, students of the famous Shibli College of Azamgarh burnt an effigy of Rahul Gandhi while chanting slogans “Batla House ki jaanch karao” (conduct an inquiry into the Batla House encounter). Rahul was supposed to address the students in the college premises followed by a rally.
BJP leader Uma Bharti has slammed the Congress Party over the issue, saying, “Both, the ‘guru’ (teacher) and ‘chela’ (pupil) are singing the same tune on Batla House (encounter),” referring to Digvijay and Rahul. “The Congress is creating this drama only for Muslim votes in the UP election,” she said.
Samajwadi Party leader Mohd Azam Khan said, “Rahulji must explain what our country’s foreign minister is doing in Israel at the time of elections in five states. Israel is known for hatching plots to demonise Muslims as terrorists. Our PM should also explain why he goes to Israel which has always conspired to finish off Muslims from the face of the earth.”
