SP leader Azam Khan attacks Imam Bukhari, calls him an RSS agent

Uttar Pradesh cabinet minister and Samajwadi Party (SP) leader Azam Khan has kicked up a new controversy by claiming that Shahi Imam Bukhari is actually an RSS agent.

According to a report in an English daily, addressing mediapersons at his home on Friday, Khan said, "Had my son married a Hindu girl, it would have created a political storm, but RSS was silent when Bukhari's son married a Hindu girl. RSS could not see a love jihad in this wedding."

Khan then said that Bukhari was working at the behest of RSS, and was misleading the Muslim community. Khan asked Bukhari to pay attention to religious activities and not meddle in UP politics.

Addressing mediapersons at his home on Friday, Khan said, "Had my son married a Hindu girl, it would have created a political storm, but RSS was silent when Bukhari's son married a Hindu girl. RSS could not see a love jihad in this wedding."

In a tit for tat, Bukhari called Khan a 'blot on the community' and demanded his dismissal from the state cabinet, says the English daily. Bukhari then wrote to SP chief Mulayam Singh Yadav and chief minister Akhilesh Yadav, alleging that Muslims had no say in the UP government only because of Azam Khan.

"Resentment among Muslims against Azam and the SP government is growing every day. Muslims have already expressed their anger against the SP government by voting against them during the recently-concluded panchayat elections," said Bukhari. He further claimed that leaders like Azam Khan were fanning the flames of Hindu-Muslim disunity in the country.