In a tragic incident on August 12 a youth died and three others suffered gunshot injuries when local BJP parliamentarian Ramakant Yadav and his men had allegedly opened fire in Phoolpur. The president of the Rashtriya Ulama Council, Amir Rashadi, on whose complaint an FIR of murder was lodged against the MP and his men, said that the accused had fired at him and the victims were members of his party. Reports citing Ulema Council spokesman Tahir Madni said the incident took place around 2.45 pm, when Yadav’s fleet of four vehicles was passing by the Barauli village in Phoolpur. One of the SUVs had hit two local youths on a motorcycle. The youths were escorting the fleet of Amir Rashadi, who was on way to attend a party meeting in the area.
Yadav’s armed men pulled up the youths for not driving properly. The locals intervened and Yadav’s men opened fire, injuring four youths – Abdul Rehman, Zahid, Farhan and Imran. The injured were taken to the hospital, but Rehman died on the way. The tragic incident has created tension in the adjoining areas.
Reports include that Ramakant Yadav, who won the election from Azamgarh on a BJP ticket, is a historysheeter. Over 30 cases – including some under the Goonda Act and the Gangsters Act – are registered against him in Azamgarh, Jaunpur and Gorakhpur.
WIDE CONDEMNATION
Amir Jamaat-e-Islami Hind (Uttar Pradesh East) Maulana Waliullah Sayeedi Falahi condemned the murderous attack on the procession of Rashtriya Ulama Council. Maulana Waliullah demanded the government to bring the culprits to book and award them rigorous imprisonment so that no one can dare to take such a step. He called upon the people to have patience and maintain peace at this critical hour.
Dr Zafarul-Islam Khan, President All India Muslim Majlis-e Mushawarat, the umbrella body of Indian Muslim organisations, condemned the unprovoked firing by the BJP MP and his supporters. In a statement on August 13, Dr Khan said the Indian polity must not tolerate such gangsters and criminals including the concerned MP who should be punished like any Indian citizen. He said Ramakant Yadav is a known gangster with many criminal cases against him and yet political parties embrace him and his likes which is a matter of shame.
Dr Khan demanded the BJP to expel this gangster from its membership and asked the Parliament Speaker Meira Kumar to initiate proceedings to expel him from Parliament as his real place is a jail cell and not the sacred temple of democracy.
Coordination Committee of Indian Muslims (CCIM) also strongly condemned the unprovoked firing by the local MP. In a statement on August 13 CCIM said in a democracy violence of any kind has no place. “We see this shootout as an attempt to vitiate the peace and communal harmony of the region. The MP involved in violence has a record of criminal cases pending against him and he is known as terror personified in the eastern UP region, always spitting communal venom.
“This incidence has further proved that he is permanent danger to the peace and fraternity of the people of that region. People of Azamgarh remained by and large peaceful even after in the wake of grave provocation after Batla House ‘encounter’ in which two Azamgarh young students were killed. People of Azamgarh chose only democratic measures to deal with the injustice.”
CCIM has demanded Government of India to immediately order Ramakant Yadav’s arrest who is named in the FIR lodged in the local police station and announce an adequate compensation to the kins of the deceased and the injured in the shootout. It also demanded Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumari to expel him from the membership of the august house in order to instil confidence in the people of the region and to remove persons of criminal record from the temple of democracy. It also demanded UP Government to take all measures to maintain peace and communal harmony and to book all miscreants without delay. CCIM appealed to the general public to maintain calm and peace in order to thwart the conspiracy and malicious intentions of the communal forces.