Azam Khan, the Uttar Pradesh minister for urban development and minority affairs, has sought intervention of the United Nations to what he terms as “Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s bid to turn India into a theocratic majority nation.”
Khan, on Monday, shot off a letter to the UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon accusing Modi of attempting to destroy the plural and secular character of the country by giving the Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh and its 40 affiliate bodies to run their writ and take India on the path of a “Hindu Rashtra”.
Citing the recent killing of a 50-year old Muslim man in Dadri (on the border of New Delhi) as a glaring example of growing clout of the RSS, he termed it as “a result of the sinister campaign of this organisation that one Muslim old man was lynched on the rumour of consuming beef .” He has stated, “The ongoing police investigation points to some grand design behind the incident.”
The letter adds, “Our prime minister got a massive mandate in May 2014 to rule the country and it was thought that the controversial figure who was always looked at with suspicion for the genocidal riots in Gujarat during his chief ministership, had changed and had begun to understand the responsibility of a prime minister -- to protect every citizen of the country and to serve the country without any bias."
"But since he has taken charge, the fear among minorities specially among Muslims and Christians has increased and he always keeps mum on the rabidity of RSS and its affiliate organisations,” it says.
It adds, “Once he became prime minister, he reached out to the world leaders and assured them that India will always be secular and plural, but the ground reality is different. He says something before world leaders and the United Nations General Assembly but does not oppose and even provides tacit support to the RSS and its affiliate organisations to intimidate minorities in the country.”
In the concluding lines of the 5-page letter, Khan writes, “I humbly request to the highest body of this international organisation to look into our miseries and to take care of us and impress upon the Union Government of India to stick to international agreements and allow secularism and plurality to flourish in the country as also to not push the agenda of an extra-constitutional authority (read RSS) to turn India into a theocratic majority Hindu nation.”
Meanwhile, BJP Member of Parliament Yogi Adityanath lashed out at Samajwadi Party leader Azam Khan for writing to the UN.
"This is unfortunate as it (incident) was due to his government's failure," Adityanath said while criticising the Cabinet minister of UP government for writing to the UN.
"Some people love cheap publicity through their nonsensical talks and I don't want to comment on them. In fact it is unnecessary," he added when asked to react to Khan's move.
Asked about the financial assistance announced by UP government for the lynching victim's family, the BJP leader said, "These are wrong things started by the state government. But I want justice for all and appeasement for none."