Samajwadi Party on Thursday removed Kamal Farooqi from the post of its secretary for siding with arrested Indian Mujahideen operative Yasin Bhatkal. Farooqi had said Bhatkal may have been arrested because he was a Muslim.
SP general secretary Ram Gopal Yadav has written to Farooqi informing him that party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav has removed him as secretary of the SP National Executive with immediate effect.
Farooqi had drawn the wrath of political parties for asking whether Bhatkal’s arrest was based on the grounds of crime or religion.Congress and BJP had slammed Farooqi for his comment, calling it “ridiculous”.
Farooqi later apologised for his remarks, but the SP leadership seemed to have taken the matter seriously.“If my statement has been misunderstood I am sorry about the whole thing. But my point is the community should not be victimised for Yasin Bhatkal. let us treat it as a case where investigation is going on,” Farooqi had said in his apology.
Farooqi had claimed it will be harmful for the country if the arrest was made because of Bhatkal's religious denomination. "I feel there should be an objective enquiry into the issue," he said, adding investigators should get to the bottom of the truth.
"Past record often shows that police claims to have arrested people saying they are terrorists and without a number of cases against the accused. But later it turns out it was wrong and the accused is later released," he had said. BJP said Farooqi's statement was regrettable.
"It is deeply regrettable. It is deeply unfortunate that he is using religion to compromise the security of the country. He should have avoided it," BJP spokesperson Ravi Shankar Prasad said.
Prasad said the whole of India should be seen as speaking in one voice when there is evidence against an arrested terrorist.Congress spokesperson Renuka Chowdhury trashed Farooqi's comment as ridiculous while party colleague and Union Minister V Narayanasamy said terror has no religion.