LUCKNOW: Senior Samajwadi Party leader and Rampur MP Azam Khan feels that his party has failed him. The veteran politician is also of the view that he was being targeted by the ruling BJP because he was a Muslim.
“He is disturbed by the fact that the party did not stand by him when the government started targeting him soon after BJP formed government in UP. It was only later on that some senior leaders spoke about it,” said Azam’s brother-in-law Zameer Ahmed Khan. Talking to the media outside the Sitapur jail where Azam is lodged, Zameer said the senior SP leader is so miffed with the party that he is not willing to meet the senior leaders who are visiting him.
People close to Azam are of the view that the veteran politician was feeling cheated by the manner in which the party quietly saw his arrest. Though SP chief Akhilesh Yadav visited him in Sitapur jail the day he was shifted from Rampur prison, the party decided to stay away from public display of resentment over their leader’s arrest.
“Protests at the district level may have been futile in terms of any relief from jail but would have at least made Azam feel wanted,” said a close Azam aide.
The Khans are also upset over the manner in which the family was being treated by the government in terms of cases being lodged against them. Azam has been booked for offences like stealing books and goats. The MP feels it is only because he is a Muslim, said Zameer.
Azam along with his wife Tazeen and their son Abdullah were sent to Rampur jail on February 26, 2020 after they surrendered before a court. The three are accused of filing a forged date of birth certificate for Abdullah’s candidature in the assembly elections.
“He is disturbed by the fact that the party did not stand by him when the government started targeting him soon after BJP formed government in UP. It was only later on that some senior leaders spoke about it,” said Azam’s brother-in-law Zameer Ahmed Khan. Talking to the media outside the Sitapur jail where Azam is lodged, Zameer said the senior SP leader is so miffed with the party that he is not willing to meet the senior leaders who are visiting him.
People close to Azam are of the view that the veteran politician was feeling cheated by the manner in which the party quietly saw his arrest. Though SP chief Akhilesh Yadav visited him in Sitapur jail the day he was shifted from Rampur prison, the party decided to stay away from public display of resentment over their leader’s arrest.
“Protests at the district level may have been futile in terms of any relief from jail but would have at least made Azam feel wanted,” said a close Azam aide.
The Khans are also upset over the manner in which the family was being treated by the government in terms of cases being lodged against them. Azam has been booked for offences like stealing books and goats. The MP feels it is only because he is a Muslim, said Zameer.
Azam along with his wife Tazeen and their son Abdullah were sent to Rampur jail on February 26, 2020 after they surrendered before a court. The three are accused of filing a forged date of birth certificate for Abdullah’s candidature in the assembly elections.
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