Congress exposed with charge-sheet against Pehlu Khan: Owaisi

Hyderabad, June 29 (IANS) AIMIM President Asaduddin Owaisi on Saturday said the Congress party's double standards have been exposed with the filing of a charge-sheet by the Congress-led Rajasthan government against Pehlu Khan, who was beaten to death by cow vigilantes in 2017.

The Hyderabad MP said that instead of ordering a fresh probe into the incident and doing justice to Khan's family, the Congress government in Rajasthan filed a charge-sheet against the deceased for alleged cow smuggling.

Owaisi told reporters that the whole world knows that Khan and his family were not involved in any such activity but by filing a charge-sheet, the state government had given credence to the allegations.

"This is unfortunate and highly condemnable act by Ashok Gehlot government. This has exposed the double standards of Congress," he said.

Owaisi alleged that while in the opposition the Congress sheds crocodile tears for the minorities, but after coming to power it becomes the exact replica of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and completes the BJP's unfinished task. He recalled that the Congress had condemned Khan's lynching by 'gau rakshaks'.

He said the Congress had learnt no lesson from its embarrassing defeat in the recent Lok Sabha elections, especially in Rajasthan.

The All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) chief appealed to the Muslims of Rajasthan to stop supporting the Congress as it always betrayed them. "It betrayed you for 70 years. It will not come to your rescue," he said.

Owaisi said the Muslims of Rajasthan should have an independent political platform instead of backing the Congress. He believed that such a move will strengthen democracy and pluralism.