Bahraich: Calling the Shahi Imam of Delhi's Jama Masjid a "communal person", Congress leader Digvijaya Singh on Saturday said that Muslims of Uttar Pradesh will not be misled by his appeal, in which has urged them to vote for Samajwadi Party candidates. "Bukhari was a communal person, who at one time supported Osama Bin Laden and in 2004 issued fatwa in favour of BJP," Congress general secretary Digvijaya Singh said.
"Bukhari's worth can be estimated from the fact that his opponent has won from the area he lives in. Muslims of UP will not get misled by his appeal," Digvijaya said while talking to the reporters.
Holding Congress responsible for the poor state of Muslims, Maulana Ahmad Bukhari on Saturday appealed to Muslims to vote for SP candidates in the upcoming Uttar Pradesh assembly election.
In a joint press conference here with Mulayam Singh Yadav, he said "During several rounds of meetings with me, the SP chief has promised me that he will ensure justice to Muslims.
"I appeal to the community and those with the secular mindset to ensure victory of SP nominees in the state assembly election," Bukhari said.
On demolition of Babri mosque, Digvijaya said that the then Prime Minister PV Narsimha Rao made a mistake by relying on the affidavit of Kalyan Singh.
He alleged that Mulayam shook hands with Kalyan and gave a ministerial berth to his son.
The Congress leader said that Azam Khan and Kalyan's son were ministers in the same cabinet.
Referring to NRHM scam, the Congress leader said that Rs 8,500 crore was given to the state to improve condition of health department, but from this Rs 5,000 crore could not be traced.
He alleged that five murders were executed so that big names involved in the scam could be concealed.
Meanwhile, speaking in Lucknow Digvijaya said, "We oppose communal Muslims as much as we oppose communal Hindus... Congress has always taken along liberal Hindus and Muslims".
He claimed that SP chief Mulayam Singh Yadav had earlier advised the Imam to practice religion instead of politics (imamat karey siyasat na karein).
The Imam has also issued a fatwa in favour of the BJP in 2004, this goes on to prove how much these people are in favour of communal amity, he said.
On the issue of Batla house encounter case, Digvijaya said that as the high court and Supreme Court both have rejected judicial inquiry, renewing the demand for it was irrelevant.
"Now the National Investigating Agency should probe all cases, fast track courts be set up for speedy trial so that the guitly get punishment and the innocents could be released", he said.
Criticising BJP for its promise to do away with minority reservation, he said that it was nothing new and under the 4.5 per cent quota about 85 to 90 per cent share would be that of Muslims.
On the occasion, renowned film maker Muzaffar Ali and retired bureaucrat Parveen Talha joined the party.
