Taking law into hand being encouraged…: Sharad Pawar’s veiled jibe at UP govt over Atiq Ahmed murder
In a veiled dig at the Uttar Pradesh government over the killing of don-politician Atiq Ahmed, Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) president Sharad Pawar on Tuesday said an “atmosphere is being created” that taking law into one’s hands is the right thing to do.
Sharad Pawar was speaking at an iftar party organised by his party on Tuesday. “The country is in a different situation. For the well-being of the nation, we have to bring a message of unity to each house. This country runs on the Constitution and law and order,” Sharad Pawar said.
“If those in government want to keep the Constitution and law and order aside, then we will go in the wrong direction. If someone has done something wrong, then the law should deal with them,” he said, without taking names.
“When someone does something wrong in society, the law has provisions to deal with such a person. But by not following the law and Constitution and taking the law into one’s hand…certain steps are taken. There is an attempt to create an atmosphere that this is the right thing to do, and this is not good for the country,” Sharad Pawar said.
The event was attended by NCP leaders including Ajit Pawar, MPs Supriya Sule, Fauzia Khan and Mohammed Faizal and former ministers Chhagan Bhujbal, Anil Deshmukh and Jitendra Awhad.
Atiq Ahmed and Ashraf were shot dead by three men posing as journalists while they were being escorted by police to a medical college in Prayagraj on Saturday night. The murder, caught on LIVE camera, raised critical questions regarding the cops’ security arrangements for the high-profile prisoners and their response to the shooting.
The murder has triggered sharp reactions from the opposition leaders over the law and order situation in the state.
(With PTI inputs)
