FILE photo: Uttar Pradesh Urban Development Minister and senior Samajwadi Party leader Azam Khan
UP Minister Azam Khan today asked the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh or RSS as to why it had compromised over the issue of Article 370, which the outfit had kept alive since independence.
"Why and how has RSS compromised with PDP chief Mufti Mohammad Sayeed on the issue of prevalence of Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir?" Mr Khan asked, adding that it was this contentious issue which the "RSS had kept alive since attainment of independence".
Article 370 of the Constitution grants special autonomous status to Jammu and Kashmir. The BJP and RSS, its ideological mentor, have, for long, raised voices against the provision, seeking abrogation of the Article.
However, with the formation of the Sayeed-led PDP-BJP government in the state, it was agreed to maintain status quo on the issue.
Azam Khan, who was interacting with reporters at Mohd Ali Jauhar University in Rampur on Monday evening, lashed out at leaders of outfits affiliated to the RSS for vitiating the atmosphere by raising the issue of conversions.
"Hindus were never converted to Islam at the point of sword," he claimed, adding that those who talk of "conversions through the said mode (at the point of sword) are hurling insults on the Hindus," and called for a check on such persons.
Mr Khan also hit out at leaders who, he alleged, were tarnishing the "pious relationship" between couples by terming it as "Love Jihad".
"They do not know the definition of love. In the name of 'Love Jihad', they are trying to bring a bad name to the pious relationship between a man and a woman," he said.
The minister also took a dig at BJP leader Sadhvi Prachi for her appeal to the youth against idolising the Khan triumvirate (Shah Rukh Khan, Aamir Khan and Salman Khan) in Bollywood.
"They (outfits affiliated to RSS leaders) have been criticising the triumvirate of Khans. But now they have added one more Khan, Azam Khan, for various purposes," he said.