Bulandshahr gangrape: Azam faces protest in Delhi, but won’t budge from his stand

The SP leader soon addressed his supporters and complained that while a number of television cameras were parked when the woman was protesting outside, only one was present inside the hall.

“As soon as I got down from my vehicle, I saw a woman standing with my photo (defaced) in her hand. That the photo of an ugly man like me was in her hand is my good fortune. I only want to say that the number of cameras that were there when she was carrying my photo in her hand, even one-fourth or one-sixth of those are not here now. Those cameras had come to film only that. That will become news. Lekin yaad rahe…sirf musalmaan ke naam par hame maara nahin jaa sakta (But it should be remembered that I cannot be finished simply because I am a Muslim),” Khan said.

He said that the presence of Shankaracharya Adhokshanand, who released the book on him, was his strength. He alleged that though the woman was alone, “there must have been many, including the powerful and the rich, who sent her here”.

“Yes, I said one thing at that time and (I am) saying it even now. Being a responsible minister of the government, it is my responsibility to caution and give advice to the government. In one day, five such incidents have happened in UP. It is the government’s responsibility to find out what is the truth behind these incidents,” he added.

The UP minister, meanwhile, reiterated his earlier demand of stoning rapists to death. “I had said that there should be courts which decide on such issues within a week. In the case of rape, Islamic Shariyat law should be implemented and the rapists should be stoned to death,” he said.

Khan questioned why the political class took maximum umbrage only at his remarks. “An obnoxious conspiracy was hatched against me. I still maintain that the truth must come out – the truth about who is behind all this. What is wrong in seeking this. I want that no other innocent is devastated in future again like it happened to them (Bulandshahr victims)”.

Meanwhile, the Shankaracharya targeted Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the NDA dispensation over “communalism” and “gau raksha” and hailed Khan’s work for cow protection and development of places related to Hinduism.
“I am seeing that a number of rulers of our country are responsible for the chaos that is being seen in our country. They have told lies. They have cheated the nation sometimes in the name of Ram Mandir, sometimes in the name of Kashmir and sometimes in the name of price rise. They are thugs,” he said.