Rajnath says proud of ultra's father

Sartaj thanks MPs

Home Minister Rajnath Singh on Thursday said the government was proud of Mohammad Sartaj, the father of the suspected terrorist killed in the Lucknow encounter, for disowning him.

Making a statement in the Lok Sabha on Tuesday’s train blast near Ujjain and the Lucknow encounter, the home minister said investigation in both the cases would be handed over to the National Investigation Agency.

“The government is proud of people like Sartaj and I am sure the entire House also feels proud about him. It is a matter of pride for us. I feel the need to mention it here,” Rajnath said to the thumping of desks by members.

In Kanpur, Sartaj thanked parliamentarians. “It is a big gesture to laud a small man's decision,” he told reporters.

A section of parliamentarians saw Rajnath's remarks as an attempt to drag in Sartaj's action to further Bharatiya Janata Party’s political interests by highlighting his "nationalist" credentials.

“A father has rejected a son for the sake of the nation... My salute. This shows there is no dearth of nationalist Muslims in India,” senior Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad
told reporters outside Parliament.