New delhi,February 05:THE GHOST of the Batla House encounter has returned to haunt the Congress in the wake of AICC general secretary Digvijay Singh’s visit to Azamgarh on Wednesday to meet the families of those killed in the shootout.
On Thursday, the BJP, the Jamia Teachers’ Solidarity Association and expelled Samajwadi Party leader Amar Singh slammed the Congress for playing politics with the issue.
Sources said though Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and then national security adviser M. K. Narayanan were opposed to an inquiry into the encounter, indications are that the government may agree to a probe if there is fresh evidence to support the claim that the encounter was set up.
The sources added that Digvijay Singh may brief the Prime Minister on his visit to Azamgarh and plead for an inquiry.
Claiming he was the first politician to take up the issue of the “ fake” encounter, Amar Singh said the Congress was afraid of antagonising the police by ordering a judicial probe into the shootout. “ Digvijay Singh has woken up months after I raised the issue that the encounter was fake. When Congress leaders like ( minority affairs minister) Salman Khurshid and ( human resource development minister)
Kapil Sibal had raised eyebrows on the encounter, why was Digvijay Singh silent?” he asked.
Asked if he backed the demand for an inquiry into the encounter, Khurshid said he could not give individual opinion and if there was fresh evidence it was up to the government to take a decision.
While the Congress officially distanced itself from Digvijay Singh’s visit by not coming out in support of him openly, party sources said the leader’s visit to Azamgarh had the blessings of Rahul and Sonia Gandhi as they wanted the party to reach out to the minority community.
Under fire for his visit to Azamgarh, Digvijay Singh on Thursday said he was not satisfied with the National Human Rights Commission ( NHRC) report because the inquiry team did not talk to the slain youths’ family members.
During his visit to Sanjarpur village in Azamgarh on Wednesday, Singh had said the encounter that took place on September 19, 2008, in New Delhi appeared to be dubious.
As his remark drew criticism, the Congress leader said he was not qualified to talk about the case. “ I am not an investigating agency. I am not the one assigned to investigate the Batla House encounter. So I cannot decide what is right and what is wrong in this case,” the Congress party general secretary in charge of Uttar Pradesh said.
“ All I want to say is that one of the youths killed in the encounter had sustained five bullet injuries on the upper part of his skull. This normally doesn’t happen in an encounter.
“ Me and other Congress leaders, including Kapil Sibal and Salman Khurshid, had requested Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to set up an inquiry following which the National Human Rights Commission was asked to probe the matter,” Singh said.
Asked why he was not pressuring the Prime Minister to order a judicial probe instead of seeking a probe by the National Investigation Agency, Singh said: “ I cannot reply to this question because I am not in the government. My only concern is to minimise the woes of the family members.”