Azmi questions 'duality' in decision to suspend him

Mumbai: The state president of Samajwadi Party MLA Abu Azmi on Wednesday equated himself with journalist Prashant Koratkar and actor Rahul Solapurkar while exposing the 'duality' in decision to suspend him for 'insulting' historical figures.

Reacting to his suspension from the session, which ends on March 26, Azmi said it was an "injustice" and questioned the double standards of the government.

"I would like to ask the Maharashtra government whether there are two sets of legislations in the state? Is there a different legislation for Abu Azmi? Is there any different set of legislation for likes of Prashant Koratkar and Rahul Solapurkar?" Azmi asked.

"My suspension for the session from the assembly is not just an injustice to me alone, but is also an injustice to the millions of people whom I represent," said the Muslim leader who was suspended from the Maharashtra assembly for the whole of the budget session for praising Mughal monarch Aurangzeb, hailing him for being "not a cruel ruler but as an administrator".

Azmi also pleaded 'not guilty', by highlighting the facts that he didn't say anything in the house, but just replied to the questions of some journalists outside the state assembly. "Also, I didn't say anything new. But I reiterated what several historians have already said and has been taught in schools and colleges for all these years," Azmi said while expressing dismay over the action against him.

Earlier in the day, after the question hour in the state assembly, speaker Rahul Narvekar announced the decision to suspend Azmi for the whole session from the house amid a row over Azmi's remarks. A motion to suspend the four-time MLA was moved by Parliamentary Affairs Minister Chandrakant Patil which was unanimously accepted by the house.

BJP legislator Sudhir Mungantiwar suggested that Azmi should not be suspended just for the Budget Session but for his entire term. The Congress Legislature Party leader Vijay Wadettiwar said that the Opposition would not tolerate glorification of Aurangzeb and demanded that action should be taken against those insulting Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj.

Thereafter, Speaker Rahul Narwekar put the resolution for vote and it was passed by voice vote amid the Opposition raising slogans like “Shivaji Maharaj ki jai.”

Both the Houses of the state legislature were adjourned on Tuesday for the day after the members from the Treasury Benches took strong objection against Azmi’s statement.

Abu Azmi said he withdrew his statement to ensure the House functions, but "still there is a controversy".

"To ensure that the House functions, I spoke about withdrawing my statement. I did not say anything wrong. Still, there is a controversy and proceedings of the House are being stalled," Azmi rued.

BJP MLA and spokesperson Ram Kadam, however, said that the suspension of Azmi wasn’t enough and that insulting Chhatrapati Sambhaji Maharaj was unacceptable. It was while reacting to him that Azmi pointed out that Koratkar and Solapurkar too had recently insulted historical figures, but no action was taken against them like the one taken against him.