Elgar organisers back Usmani; BJP demands action against them
Elgar organisers on Sunday issued a statement showing vehement support to Usmani (23), an activist and a student of Aligarh Muslim University in light of two cases registered against him - one in Pune and one in Lucknow
In a complete U-turn from their previous stand, the Elgar Parishad organisers have now backed Sharjeel Usmani who was booked by Pune police for making controversial remarks during the January 30 event in the city.
Elgar organisers on Sunday issued a statement showing vehement support to Usmani (23), an activist and a student of Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) in light of two cases registered against him - one in Pune and one in Lucknow.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) while slamming the organisers demanded action against them.
Keshav Upadhye, chief spokesperson of the BJP state unit, said that the conclave was creating divisions in the society and demanded police action against the organisers for supporting Usmani’s statement.
The 11-page long statement by the Bhima Koregaon Shauryadin Prerna Abhiyan, an umbrella body which organised the second edition of Elgar Parishad on January 30, have urged the public to understand the context in which Usmani was speaking when he said that the current-day Hindus are rotten.
The stand taken by Elgar organisers differs from earlier remarks by former HC judge BG Kolse Patil, who condemned the particular utterances of Usmani during his speech. Kolse Patil is one of the organisers of Elgar Parishad.
“Sharjeel Usmani had pointed out the intolerance of the Hindu community by recounting the incident of Junaid. His supposedly ‘controversial’ statement was part of these remarks. Who was the Junaid that Sharjeel talked about? Fifteen-year-old Junaid was stabbed in public on the Delhi-Mathura railway in July 2017. Junaid, who was returning from Eid shopping with his brother and friends, was stabbed to death by some Hindu youths in a dispute over sharing a train seat,” read a part of the statement that has accused the government and other stakeholders of “cherry-picking” Usmani’s words.
Upadhye took to Twitter to oppose the statement made by the organisers.
“The organisers of Elgar Parishad, who are supporting the same Sharjeel Usmani who said Hindu samaj is rotten, should also face police action. By extending support to a person who aims to create disharmony in the society, they have proved that it is their aim too. Strict action should be taken against these organisers,” read the direct translation of his tweet in Marathi.
The 11-page long speech invokes multiple scholars including Babasaheb Ambedkar, Prabodhankar Thackeray, Mukta Salve, and Krantiba Jyotiba Phule.
Earlier last week, Swargate police booked Usmani under section 153(a) of IPC for promoting enmity between different groups on the ground of religion.
