By Mohit Dubey, IANS,
Lucknow : Other than a long list of ‘expectations’ that his government had from the union government, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav Saturday broached the subject of arrested New Delhi journalist Sayed Mohammad Kazmi with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.
Highly placed sources confirmed to IANS that the topic “came up informally” during the one hour long deliberations between the two at the 7, Race Course Road residence of the prime minister in New Delhi. Seeking “immediate and personal intervention” of Manmohan Singh, Yadav called for a judicious probe into the arrest of the journalist who is accused of involvement in the bombing of a car belonging to the Israeli embassy in New Delhi.
While close aides to the chief minister pointed out that the topic was not on the “agenda list” when the chief minister flew into the union capital for a courtesy call on the prime minister, it “popped up” after Muslim cleric Maulana Kalbe Jawwad threatened a Rail Roko on April 15.
The matter was brought to the notice of Samajwadi Party (SP) supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav who directed his chief minister son to take the lead in the issue and try to bring it up during his meeting with Manmohan Singh. Akhilesh also asked the prime minister to direct the home ministry and other security agencies to be careful in handling suspects of the minority community as one “wrong step could alienate them”.
The prime minister however apparently refused to be drawn into the issue, sources said and listened to the request but “without commitment of any sorts”, a senior official accompanying the chief minister told IANS. Other than the Delhi Police, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) has also registered a case of money laundering against Kazmi, who was arrested for his alleged role in the Feb 13 bomb attack on an Israeli diplomat’s car in Delhi.
Cops say they have a water tight case against the Muslim journalist while his family and many Muslim organizations are crying foul over his arrest and the charges slapped on him.