New Delhi/Lucknow: Union minister and BJP leader Mahesh Sharma and AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi on Friday met the family of a man lynched for allegedly eating beef in a Greater Noida area, adjoining the national capital.
“The incident was just an accident and was not planned,” said Sharma after meeting the victim’s family.
“I have met the mother and other family members of Akhlaq. It is a very tragic incident. Such incidents are like black spots on our society and is also against our ‘Ganga-Jamuni tehzeeb’ [Ganga-Yamuna culture],” the minister said.
“No one should play politics over such an incident,” said Sharma, the Bharatiya Janata Party’s Lok Sabha member from Gautam Budh Nagar constituency within which the victim’s village falls.
On Monday night, 50-year-old Akhlaq, a resident of Bisara village in Greater Noida, was allegedly dragged from his home and lynched for sacrificing a cow.
After meeting Akhlaq’s family, All India Majlis e Ittehadul Muslimeen president Owaisi said: “You cannot barge into anybody’s house and assault every member of the family. Those guilty in this crime should face the maximum punishment under the charge of murder.
“We were hoping that the prime minister would condemn this with at least a tweet.”
“It is tragic that minister Mahesh Sharma, who has taken an oath on the constitution, claims this was an accident. It was not an accident. This was a pre-planned murder,” the AIMIM chief said.
Demanding Sharma’s dismissal for terming the lynching an accident, the Samajwadi Party on Friday asked Prime Minister Narendra Modi to give strict directions to prevent such “planned” incidents.
“Mahesh Sharma should be immediately sacked from the Union Cabinet for his statement on the Dadri lynching. The PM should also swing into action and give strict directions to prevent such planned incidents,” senior UP minister Shivpal Yadav told reporters here.
Terming the incident the handiwork of the BJP and RSS, Yadav said they had orchestrated such incidents in the past too.
“Communal forces — BJP, RSS and Shiv Sena — are trying to vitiate the communal atmosphere of the state. They have orchestrated such incidents in the past and are trying to do it again. We are alert, but they are doing communal politics and have succeeded in their designs sometimes,” he said.
“The Dadri incident was planned. They [BJP] are anti-Muslim and are habitual of doing such incidents,” the Samajwadi Party leader said.
When asked about the AIMIM leader’s visit to the Dadri village, Yadav said, “We are keeping an eye on those trying to do politics on the issue.”
He said the SP government has sought a report from the district administration and action will be initiated against those held responsible.
