BJP fail to condemn Atiq Ahmed killing

BJP leaders have barely condemned the gunning down of gangster Atiq Ahmed. BJP MP Subrat Pathak said that while he condemns the killing, one must remember that Ahmed terrorised people. BJP leader Suresh Khanna called the act “divine Justice” while Swatantra Dev Singh said that retribution for any act, good or bad, takes place in one’s lifetime only.

Pathak, in a video on Saturday night barely an hour after the killing, sought to compare the murders with the killing of Umesh Pal. Pal, who was the prime witness in the murder of BSP MLA Raju Pal in 2005, was shot dead on February 24 near his residence in Uttar Pradesh's Prayagraj allegedly at the behest of Atiq Ahmed. Raju Pal, too, was allegedly murdered by Ahmed.

Pathak said that while the murders were worrisome and that further investigations will determine the truth behind the incident, he reminded people of the atrocities committed by the brothers. “The brothers who have died today after a lifetime of crimes had terrorised scores of people — they had killed, tortured and kidnapped a lot of people. There was an attack on Umesh Pal, too. This is a matter of investigation,” Pathak said.

Read | A look at Atiq Ahmed's journey into the world of crime

In a tweet, UP minister and former BJP UP president Swatantra Dev Singh, said in a tweet, “Paap, punya ka hisaab isi janam main hota hai (Justice for evil or good takes place in one’s lifetime),” the tweet said. Another minister of the Yogi government, Suresh Khanna, said that this was a “aasmaani faisla (a decision from the heavens).

In Madhya Pradesh, after former chief minister Kamal Nath asked for an investigation into the matter, state BJP spokesperson Narendra Saluja said Nath should instead express solidarity with the victims of Ahmed’s crimes. “Atiq was facing more than 100 criminal cases. It is shameful Nath is demanding an investigation into the killing of a man who murdered several people and destroyed their families. Nath is siding with the mafia for the politics of appeasement,” Saluja said.