Former minister Dr P Shankar Rao on Sunday strongly condemned senior journalist MJ Akbar for joining the Bharatiya Janata Party.
Dr Shankar told reporters here, Shankar Rao alleged that Akbar gave preference to his personal gains over the community and joined the BJP to give an impression that party’s Prime Ministerial candidate and Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi was secular. He said Akbar’s decision was aimed at sending wrong message that Muslims have forgotten the Gujarat riots of 2002.
Shankar Rao said that though everyone was free to join any party in the country, but being an icon of Muslim community, Akbar should have avoided joining a communal party like BJP. Besides playing a role in demolition of Babri Masjid and a series of riots in the country, the BJP Governments did nothing for the development of Muslims, he alleged. (INN)