Union minister wants those raising slogans for Atiq Ahmad to be ‘shot at sight’
Union minister Ashwini Choubey on Saturday condemned slogans glorifying slain gangster-turned-politician Atiq Ahmad and such people should be ‘shot at sight’.
Choubey’s statement was in response to an incident in which a man at a Friday prayer congregation in Patna district raised slogans in support of Atiq and against Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath.
“After offering Jumma Namaz, one of the men shouted ‘Atiq Ahmad Amar Rahe’ and used slogans against Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath,” Vaibhav Sharma, City SP, Patna, said.
Reacting to the report, Choubey said, “The incident is regrettable, and it is unfortunate that such statements and slogans are being made in Bihar. Such people should be immediately shot at sight.”
Atiq Ahmad and his brother Ashraf were shot dead at point-blank range by three men posing as journalists in the middle of a media interaction on the night of April 15 while police personnel were escorting them to a medical college in Prayagraj for a checkup. Atiq was accused of the murder of BSP MLA Raju Pal in 2005 and the killing of Umesh Pal, a key witness in the BSP leader’s murder, in February this year.
Hitting out at the slogans raised against Adityanath and Modi, Choubey said, “The manner in which slogans were raised against the Prime Minister of the country and the chief minister of Uttar Pradesh by taking names, is also very unfortunate.”
Criticising the Bihar government, the minister added, “We need the ‘Yogi’ model in Bihar in which criminals like terrorism mafia are not spared.”
“In Bihar, only the government of the uncle-nephew dynasty and casteism is running, the way CM Nitish Kumar is giving statements targeting the people of BJP, the public will give them answer by choosing the Yogi model in the state in 2025. In the coming times the people of Bihar will bring the Yogi model into power, BJP government will also be formed in Bihar.”