Azam Khan has denied any role in the Muzaffarnagar's riots
A day after four Uttar Pradesh police officers leveled serious allegations against Azam Khan in court over last month's communal riots in Muzaffarnagar, the senior minister said he is confident that he won't be abandoned by Mulayam Singh Yadav, whose Samajwadi Party rules the state.
"I know Mulayam can never leave me. He needs my loyalty... he cannot leave me," Mr Khan said in Lucknow.
Yesterday, the Allahabad High Court issued a notice to Mr Khan after four officers in charge of police stations in villages that were mangled by the violence told the court that they were unfairly suspended from the police force on his orders. They also claimed that Mr Khan had them punished because he was upset that seven Muslims had been arrested for allegedly killing two brothers in the village of Kawal on August 27. They said in court that under pressure from the minister, their bosses ordered the release of the suspects immediately.
Azam Khan, the Muslim face of the Samajwadi Party, has denied that he pressured police officials to ignore the violence in which nearly 50 people were killed. The minister said today that he will clarify his stand in court.
On August 27, a pair of Hindu men, who were cousins, murdered a young Muslim man who they accused of stalking their sister; within an hour, they had been lynched to death by a mob comprising largely of Muslims.
On September 7, thousands of Hindu farmers gathered to demand justice for the killed cousins. As they dispersed from a rally where politicians made allegedly incendiary speeches, they were attacked by mobs armed with funds, knives and swords. Over the next 48 hours, the violence was unstoppable.
The government called in the Army to enforce curfew.