MORADABAD:
Arrested in early hours of Saturday, Imran Masood, the Congress
candidate from Saharanpur was sent to jail after a Deoband court
remanded him to 14 days of judicial custody. An embarrassed Congress
could do little but cancel Masood's election campaign rally that the
party vice-president Rahul Gandhi was to address in Saharanpur later in
the day.
Rahul distanced himself from Imran Masood saying that the words that "he has used against a leader of the opposition do not reflect the ideology of the Congress. Congress does not have such a thought process." Rahul made the statement at a public meeting in Ghaziabad where he was campaigning for his party candidate Raj Babbar. Rahul was to fly down to Saharanpur after this meeting, to campaign for Masood but the event was cancelled following Masood's arrest.
Even as the Congress party maintained silence on Masood's fate, the pressure was mounting on the local Congress leaders to drop Masood from the elections before any decision was taken by the Election Commission of India (ECI) with regards to his candidature in view of the fact that he has violated the Representation of People's Act and the Indian Penal Code.
Masood was arrested before day break on Saturday for his hate speech against Modi. Senior superintendent of Police (SSP) Saharanpur Manoj Kumar himself led a contingent of police, PAC and central para military forces to arrest Masood from his house. He was produced before the Deoband court which remanded him to 14 days of judicial custody. SSP Saharanpur said the arrest was made in connection with a case lodged at the instance of the election commission.
Masood has been booked under section 295 (A) (deliberate and malicious acts, intended to outrage religious feelings), 504 (Intentional insult to provoke breach of peace), 506 (criminal intimidation) of Indian Penal Code (IPC) coupled with section 125 of of Representation of People Act which deals with promoting enmity between classes in connection with election. The fact that police had also slapped section 310 of the Prevention of Atrocities against SC/ST Act virtually sealed Imran's fate and ensured his arrest.
Masood, who on Friday expressed regret for his remark on Modi, tried to play a political martyr on Saturday claiming that his arrest was a result of a conspiracy hatched by the BJP. "I have not done anything wrong. I will not apologize either to Narendra Modi or BJP," said the Congress leader, while being taken away from the court. During the court hearing, police had a tough time chasing away Masood's supporters who had gathered outside the courtroom in large numbers.
Interestingl, even after Congress legislature party leader Pradeep Mathur confirmed that Rahul Gandhi has cancelled his rally at Saharanpur till further notice, the party tried to come clean on the issue claiming that the video footage in which Imran Masood is shown saying that he will chop BJP prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi to pieces was shot before he joined the Congress. Uttar Pradesh Congress committee (UPCC) president Nirmal Khatri said: "Firstly the so called hate speech of Imran Masood ji was delivered in December 2013 when he was with the SP. He has joined the Congress barely a fortnight ago." Khatri also claimed that according to Masood himself, the language he had used was a part of the local dialect and was not at all supposed to be taken literally.
The hate speech video shows Masood saying: "If Modi tries to make Uttar Pradesh into Gujarat, then we will chop him into tiny pieces ... I am not scared of getting killed or attacking someone. I will fight against Modi. He thinks UP is Gujarat. Only 4% Muslims are there in Gujarat while there are 42% Muslims in UP."
Rahul distanced himself from Imran Masood saying that the words that "he has used against a leader of the opposition do not reflect the ideology of the Congress. Congress does not have such a thought process." Rahul made the statement at a public meeting in Ghaziabad where he was campaigning for his party candidate Raj Babbar. Rahul was to fly down to Saharanpur after this meeting, to campaign for Masood but the event was cancelled following Masood's arrest.
Even as the Congress party maintained silence on Masood's fate, the pressure was mounting on the local Congress leaders to drop Masood from the elections before any decision was taken by the Election Commission of India (ECI) with regards to his candidature in view of the fact that he has violated the Representation of People's Act and the Indian Penal Code.
Masood was arrested before day break on Saturday for his hate speech against Modi. Senior superintendent of Police (SSP) Saharanpur Manoj Kumar himself led a contingent of police, PAC and central para military forces to arrest Masood from his house. He was produced before the Deoband court which remanded him to 14 days of judicial custody. SSP Saharanpur said the arrest was made in connection with a case lodged at the instance of the election commission.
Masood has been booked under section 295 (A) (deliberate and malicious acts, intended to outrage religious feelings), 504 (Intentional insult to provoke breach of peace), 506 (criminal intimidation) of Indian Penal Code (IPC) coupled with section 125 of of Representation of People Act which deals with promoting enmity between classes in connection with election. The fact that police had also slapped section 310 of the Prevention of Atrocities against SC/ST Act virtually sealed Imran's fate and ensured his arrest.
Masood, who on Friday expressed regret for his remark on Modi, tried to play a political martyr on Saturday claiming that his arrest was a result of a conspiracy hatched by the BJP. "I have not done anything wrong. I will not apologize either to Narendra Modi or BJP," said the Congress leader, while being taken away from the court. During the court hearing, police had a tough time chasing away Masood's supporters who had gathered outside the courtroom in large numbers.
Interestingl, even after Congress legislature party leader Pradeep Mathur confirmed that Rahul Gandhi has cancelled his rally at Saharanpur till further notice, the party tried to come clean on the issue claiming that the video footage in which Imran Masood is shown saying that he will chop BJP prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi to pieces was shot before he joined the Congress. Uttar Pradesh Congress committee (UPCC) president Nirmal Khatri said: "Firstly the so called hate speech of Imran Masood ji was delivered in December 2013 when he was with the SP. He has joined the Congress barely a fortnight ago." Khatri also claimed that according to Masood himself, the language he had used was a part of the local dialect and was not at all supposed to be taken literally.
The hate speech video shows Masood saying: "If Modi tries to make Uttar Pradesh into Gujarat, then we will chop him into tiny pieces ... I am not scared of getting killed or attacking someone. I will fight against Modi. He thinks UP is Gujarat. Only 4% Muslims are there in Gujarat while there are 42% Muslims in UP."
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