Akhilesh Yadav has no right to blame BJP for Muzaffarnagar riots: Rehman Khan

Union Minister of Minority Affairs K Rahman Khan said that Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav had no right to blame Bharatiya Janata Party for Muzaffarnagar riots.

Zee Media Bureau

Muzaffarnagar: Denouncing the Samajwadi Party government for failing to check the communal violence here, Union Minister of Minority Affairs K Rahman Khan on Thursday said that Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav had no right to blame Bharatiya Janata Party for the riots that left over 40 people dead. On Wednesday, Yadav had hit out at the BJP over the Muzaffarnagar riots, accusing it of vitiating the atmosphere ahead of the Lok Sabha elections. "The incident was a planned one to help one party gain political mileage on the situation," he said. However, the Union Minister of Minority Affairs today reminded Yadav that it was his duty to stop riots and he failed. The BJP has asked the Uttar Pradesh governments to stop "issuing hollow statements" on the Muzaffarnagar riots and instead work to nail the guilty. On Wednesday, a meeting of Muslim intellectuals and social and cultural groups organised by the Sir Syed Awareness Forum also criticised the ruling party for not fulfilling its election promises. Renowned Islamic scholar M Saud Alam Qasmi said the Samajwadi Party was playing politics with Muslim sentiments instead of providing, as promised, 18 percent reservation in jobs to Muslims. He declared that Muslims "will teach a lesson" to the Akhilesh Yadav government in the next election. (With Agency inputs)