FRONT PAGE | Wednesday, February 10, 2010 | Email | Print | 
After Digvijay, Rahul to court Azamgarh
Pioneer News Service | New Delhi
Sonia plays to Batla House gallery, assures speedy trial
After all the hullabaloo over Congress general secretary Digvijay Singh’s Azamgarh visit, it is the turn of Rahul Gandhi to address students in this Muslim-dominated district, which has emerged as a terror hub of Uttar Pradesh.
Rahul is likely to visit the famous Shibli National College of Azamgarh, which was established by Allama Shibli Nomani and is famous for its academic standards.
Last week, party in-charge of UP Digvijay Singh triggered a major controversy when, on a visit to Azamgarh, he raised doubts over the genuineness of the Batla House encounter and demanded free and fair trial for 29 youth booked in 55 terror-related cases from the district.
Muslim leaders of different organsiations have been raising their voice against the arrest of so many Azamgarh youth in terror activities and the Congress is obviously trying to reach out to them for vote-bank politics. Most of the alleged Indian Mujahideen terrorists arrested in connection with 2008 Delhi blasts were from Azamgarh.
In a report submitted to party president Sonia Gandhi on Tuesday, Singh proposed that the Congress should push for establishment of a special court for speedy trial of terror-related cases. Speaking to reporters after submitting the report, Singh said, “Rahul will be interacting with students in Azamgarh area soon.”
Singh said Sonia has assured the delegation that she will request the Central Government to take a decision on their demand for setting up of a special court to hear all such terror-related cases.
He said the Shibli National College, where Rahul is likely to visit, is 124 years old and Mahatma Gandhi, Motilal Nehru and Jawaharlal Nehru were associated with it.
Most of the youth booked for alleged involvement in serial blasts in different cities have had formal mainstream education in and around Azamgarh. Singh said, “These are not uneducated youth. They are from well-known local management or post-graduate colleges in the area. If they get a feeling that they are not getting justice under the present system, there would be problems.”
Digvijay said Azamgarh was a centre of freedom movement in the past and it had had a glorious past. Singh wondered how the area got such a “bad name” that even the Press started calling it a nursery of terrorists. He said there is a need to dissociate Azamgarh from the “bad name”.
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