Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh refused to answer questions on the killing of the migrant worker from West Bengal in Rajasthan alleging “love jihad,” a term made popular by right wing Hindu groups, indicating that the incident was “a political” one.
“Now you are asking a political question … Thank you very much,” Mr. Singh told journalists in Kolkata when asked about the incident in Rajasthan. He ended the press conference — mainly on border security — immediately and did not take any further questions.
‘Inhuman and sad’
Political parties in West Bengal came together to condemn the killing of Afrazul Khan, a migrant worker from Malda. Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee tweeted that she “strongly condemn[s] the heinous killing of a labourer from Bengal in Rajasthan.” “How can people be so inhuman? Sad,” she said on her Twitter handle.
Mohammad Salim, MP, Communist Party of India (Marxist) and Polit Bureau member, said the State government should take up the issue with the Centre.
Pradip Bhattacharya, a Rajya Sabha MP from the Congress, said a “lawless situation” had been created in the country. “If this keeps happening, the country will be destroyed,” he said.
Afrazul Khan, 50, was working in Rajasthan for the last 20 years. Hailing from Syedpur village in Malda district, he is survived by wife Gulbahar Bibi and three daughters. Two of them are married while the third one is in Class IX.
Kin seek probe
“We want a thorough investigation into the incident and the culprit to be punished,” a relative of Afrazul told reporters. His family members said they did not know why he was killed. “We don’t know the real reason. He was the sole breadwinner of the family. We came to know that the person who killed him had called him on the pretext of giving him work,” a relative said.
(With PTI inputs)
