Bhopal encounter: It's dirty politics, says Venkaiah Naidu

New Delhi: The government has hit out strongly at the communal tone being given to the Bhopal encounter. “Suddenly, in this case (Bhopal) the religion has come. This is all cheap politics. I appeal to all to avoid politics take care of security and safety of the country,” Union information and broadcasting minister Venkaiah Naidu said on Tuesday. Claiming that it was nothing but “dirty politics”, he said that it being a matter concerning the safety and security, nobody should try to politicise it.

Union minister of state for home affairs, Kiren Rijiju, said that it has virtually become a “habit” to question authorities and raise doubts. He added that facts will come out soon which will denounce the “habit”.

“It is not good to raise questions on security forces dealing with terrorists, just on the basis of videos,” Mr Rijiju said. A controversy had erupted when unverified videos of the encounter started coming out on certain TV channels.

The Left parties have also demanded that a judicial enquiry should take place. CPI leader and Rajya Sabha MP D. Raja said, “The BJP has been politicising the issue as its wants to polarise people communally. This is being done with Assembly elections on mind, especially those in Uttar Pradesh.”

While the CPI(M) politburo said they see many discrepancies in the statements which came from the Madhya Pradesh government and the police, the politburo said, “The claim by the police that the accused were shot dead after they were attacked by these men who were armed is contradicted by state’s home minister, Bhupendra Singh. These men securing arms while being unable to get a vehicle to make good their escape sounds implausible.”

The encounter has united several opposition parties which include the BSP and the RJD. There is a growing chorus of having a court-monitored probe in both the jailbreak and the encounter. The opposition feels that it can leverage its position and embarrass the Madhya Pradesh government on this issue.

With the BJP solidly backing the Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan and rejecting a judicial probe into the encounter, the issue could well be highlighted in the upcoming winter session of Parliament.

Why only Muslims fleeing jail? questions Digvijay
Asking why only Muslims were breaking out of prisons and not Hindus, Andhra Pradesh state Congress affairs in-charge Digvijay Singh on Tuesday demanded an inquiry into repeated instances of jailbreaks by Simi activists in Madhya Pradesh.

Addressing a press conference here on Tuesday, Mr Singh said that he was against all those who do politics in the name of religion, and reminded that he had sought a ban on Simi when he was the Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh.

“I was the first CM to seek a ban on Simi and Bajrang Dal,” he said, and demanded that Madhya Pradesh CM, Shivraj Singh Chouhan, initiate an inquiry into Monday’s jailbreak and the subsequent killing of the eight Simi activists. Mr Singh also wondered why the BJP was shying away from publicly showing respect for M.S. Golwalkar, and its “sudden love” for Vallabhbhai Patel.