Samajwadi Party leader Azam Khan's wife Tanzeem Fatima returns gifted cow over mob lynching fears

Azam Khan had earlier appealed to Muslims to stay away from cow trade for their own safety.

RAMPUR: Tanzeem Fatima, the wife of veteran Samajwadi Party leader Azam Khan, has returned a cow gifted to them by a revered seer over mob lynching fears in the aftermath of the recent killing of a Muslim man in Rajasthan's Alwar over suspicion of cow smuggling.

Speaking to Zee Media, Rajya Sabha MP Tazeem Fatima said, ''With deep pain, we have returned a beautiful cow gifted to us by a seer over fears that someone might kill the animal and put the blame on us.''

It was a painful decision for Khan family to return the cow, she stressed. 

The cow was gifted to the Khans by Adhokshjanand Maharaj, the Shankaracharya of the Govardhan Peeth.

The firebrand SP leader's politician wife also blamed the present NDA regime for unleashing a reign of terror in the country during past four years.

“Past four years of BJP rule has unleashed a reign of terror, especially against the members of the minority community,'' she said.

Rajya Sabha MP Tanzeem Fatima had sometimes back urged people to focus on the issue of cow protection, Ganga pollution and Bhagwat Gita. Fatima also announced that she will contribute Rs 25 lakh for the upkeep of a gaushala (cow shelter home) in Goverdhan under Mathura district.

However, Fatima today said that she will never return to the gaushala again.  

In view of intense political bickering over the Alwar lynching incident, Azam Khan had appealed to the members of his community to stay away from the cow for their own safety.

Reacting to several provocative statements made by right-wing outfits and politicians in the aftermath of the Alwar lynching incident, the SP leader urged the Muslims to stay away from dairy business and cow trading for ''the safety of their upcoming generations.''

"My request to Muslims who are in dairy business and cow trading is to stop it for the safety of their upcoming generations. At a time when some politicians are saying that one must face dire consequences of just touching a cow, Muslims should stay away from such trade," Khan said.

Remarks from the SP leader – a prominent Muslim face of the party – came days after a 28-year-old man identified as Rakbar Khan aka Akbar was allegedly beaten to death by a mob on suspicion of cow smuggling in Rajasthan's Alwar district in the intervening night of July 20-21.

The post-mortem report said that Khan died of "shock as a result of ante-mortem (before death) injuries sustained over the body."

The autopsy further stated that the 28-year-old victim suffered 13 injuries in total, including eight bruises, two abrasions, a laceration, a fracture in the wrist and another in left femur.

The Alwar Police has also come under attack for wasting several hours in rushing the victim to a nearby hospital, which was just 6-km away from the incident site.

Rajasthan Home Minister Gulab Chand Kataria, who vowed strict action against the culprits, suggested that the Alwar lynching incident looked like a case of custodial death.

The minister, who met the victim's family, further said that they are satisfied with the action that has been taken so far.

"I met the victim's family and they told me that they are satisfied with the action taken so far. I told them to come and meet me whenever they want if they want to tell me something more," Kataria told news agency ANI.

Kataria too blamed the police for wasting time who first send the cows to cow-shed and then took the lynching victim to the hospital. He said that the life of the victim - Akbar Khan - could have been saved, had the police acted in a responsive way.

Last year in April, a 50-year-old Pehlu Khan was beaten to death by cow vigilantes in the same district triggering a national outrage.

Condemning the growing incidents of mob lynching across the country, Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh had on Tuesday said that the Centre is deeply concerned and even ready to make a new law over the issue.

As per the figures provided by the Ministry of Home Affairs, at least 45 people were killed in 40 different cases of mob lynching across nine states between 2014 and 3 March this year.

(With ANI inputs)