Mamata joins Amar in fuelling Jamia doubts

NEW DELHI: The competition to tap into Muslim unease over the Batla House encounter intensified considerably on Friday when SP general secretary A
mar Singh, along with his new-found ally Mamata Banerjeej, stepped up his attack on the police, calling the two terror suspects killed in the shootout `martyrs'.

Singh, who claimed that one of the Delhi blasts suspects killed in the encounter was a `gold medalist', said a probe was needed to establish whether the decorated inspector, Mohan Chand Sharma, who died in the encounter, was killed by bullets fired by his own men.

Addressing a crowd of about 10,000 at Okhla bus stand in Jamia Nagar, close to Batla House, he asked: "Should we believe that someone who always wore a bullet-proof vest while going for an encounter chose to be without the protective gear on that particular day because he wished to commit suicide?'' Singh's party is having to ward off a determined bid by key political foe, Uttar Pradesh chief minister Mayawati, to poach Muslim vote in UP.

Singh's rhetoric was fully matched by Mamata Banerjee who said she was convinced that the police had staged a fake encounter and that the two terror suspects were targeted because of their faith. Setting a deadline of 72 hours for the government to order a judicial probe, the Trinamool leader made the boastful assertion that she was not known for quitting before accomplishing what she wanted to achieve. "Ratan Tata realised this in Singur,'' she said, claiming that she was committed to protect the interest of farmers and Muslims.

The crowd listened to angry speeches from SP MP Abu Azmi who disagreed with the demand for a judicial probe. "A judicial probe will not bring out the truth. Only an inquiry by a panel which has one-fourth of its members drawn from the minority community will do justice,'' he said.

Another speaker said that Y S Dadwal, police commissioner, and Karnail Singh, head of special cell, were criminals.

The aggressive postures will put the Congress under greater pressure as its rivals like BSP, as well as partners like SP, try to exploit the doubts among Muslims about the encounter to attack its `secular' credentials.

On Thursday, Amar Singh, along with SP boss Mulayam Singh Yadav, had met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, to ask for a judicial probe.

Source : Times Of India