Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) national spokesperson Sambit Patra on Wednesday condemned the remarks made by Congress leader Tauqeer Raza Khan on the Batla House incident in 2008.
"His comments are highly deplorable. Khan called terrorists as martyrs. Tauqeer and Congress' politics is the same. They need to explain why they continue to do politics of hampering interests of the nation," said Patra while speaking to media persons.
Day after joining the party, Congress leader Maulana Tauqeer Raza Khan on Wednesday said that those killed in the Batla House encounter in the national capital in 2008 should be declared as "martyrs".
"People who died in Batla House were not terrorists, they should be given martyr status," Khan told ANI.
He further said that earlier the Congress government at the Centre had said that an investigation will be conducted into Batla House encounter. Those killed in the Batla House encounter were not terrorists, they should get martyr status. But Congress did not get the inquiry done."
"I will always oppose Congress if they go wrong. But, as of now, it seems that only Congress is needed for Uttar Pradesh and for the whole country. Congressmen are true secularists," he added.
The Batla House Encounter took place when terrorists of the Indian terror outfit Indian Mujahideen were reported to be hiding in a flat in the area of Jamia Nagar, Okhla, on September 19, 2008. Delhi Police carried out an operation to nab the culprits and protect the civilians.
The encounter resulted in the deaths of two terrorists and one police officer, Inspector Mohan Chand Sharma, with the remaining terrorists arrested. On March 15, 2021, one of the arrested Ariz Khan alias Junaid, was sentenced to death for the murder of Inspector Sharma.
Meanwhile, politician and Islamic cleric Maulana Tauqeer Raza Khan, who was earlier booked for derogatory comments against PM Narendra Modi and reportedly issuing threats against the Hindu community, joined Congress ahead of the Uttar Pradesh Assembly polls on Tuesday.
( With inputs from ANI )
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