MUMBAI, 13 August 2007 — The general secretary of the Samajwadi Party Amar Singh and Maharashtra state Samajwadi Party president and member of Parliament Abu Asim Azmi threatened that their 44 MPs in the Lok Sabha (Lower House) and 17 MPs in the Rajya Sabha, would stall proceedings in both the houses of Parliament in the ensuing session unless both the houses first dispose off the demand of the implementation of the Srikrishna Commission report to the entire satisfaction of the Muslim community.
Both the SP leaders announced this threat and demand while addressing a huge gathering of “Justice Rally” held at Kherwadi grounds in Bandra suburb on Saturday evening. Amar Singh said that there are two types of laws governing the country after 60 years of independence.
One gets a set justice, while the other has a different kind of justice. In any circumstances, bomb blast incidents are deplorable, but at the same time it is also necessary to find out the root cause behind the triggering of blasts, he said Singh and Azmi demanded that action should be taken against those involved in the communal riots of 1992-93 under the stringent Maharashtra Control of Organized Crime Act (MCOCA).
In Uttar Pradesh, the Babri Mosque, a symbol of secularism, was demolished. At that time action was taken against BJP leader Lal Krishan Advani and Shiv Sena militants.
After actor Sanjay Dutt was arrested at the time of communal riots under various sections of Terrorists and Disruptive Activities Act (TADA), Sena chief Bal Thackeray had proclaimed that the actor’s father Sunil Dutt was like his elder brother, Singh said and added that a Sena leader Madhukar Sarpotdar who played a major role in the communal riots should also languish in a prison just as actor Sanjay Dutt was thrust into the Yerawada Central Prison in Pune.
Azmi launched a scathing attack on the Congress led Democratic Front government in Maharashtra and the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) led federal government in New Delhi and said that as per the Indian Constitution, the law was equal for all the citizens of the country and asked as to why two different laws were applied to the Mumbai serial bomb blasts accused and the accused in the communal riots.
Azmi also said that the Samajwadi Party would continue to hold demonstrations, rallies, and corner meetings in different parts of Mumbai and the state, unless the state government takes immediate steps for the implementation of the Srikrishna Commission report and action against those named in the report.
Meanwhile, Mumbai Police Commissioner Dhananjay Jadhav came under attack from the media for making a “meaningless and senseless” statement about the media coverage of Srikrishna Commission. Jadhav has asked journalists to exercise restraint while writing, airing, and telecasting news related to the Srikrishna Commission, and said that the intelligence agencies had been asked to keep a watch on some of the publications and journalists.
Journalists questioned the motives of the indirect warning by the police chief, whom they described as the “weakest and most inefficient” police chief the city of Mumbai ever had in its history. “Jadhav has put his foot in his mouth by making such an irrelevant and stupid statement,” said a senior police officer, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
