Election Commission bans Azam Khan and Amit Shah's rallies in Uttar Pradesh

By Dilip -
The Election Commission has banned BJP leader Amit Shah and Samajwadi Party's senior minister Azam Khan from addressing public meetings and rallies in Uttar Pradesh. Both parties have sought a review of the decision. (Hate speeches under scrutiny)
 
In a letter to the UP Chief Secretary, the Election Commission has also ordered that First Information Reports (FIRs) be registered against the two politicians for making "highly inflammatory speeches" while campaigning for the general elections in the state.
It said, "no permission should be granted for holding any public meetings' public processions, public rallies, road shows, etc., by the district administration authorities, where the above two leaders are expected or likely to participate."
 
Election Commission sources told NDTV that the panel felt that a "long rope" had been given to these leaders and it was time now to take strict action. (Read: Election Commission's letter to UP government). In a second letter it has asked chief electoral officers in all states to ensure that "prompt legal action" is taken by the state administration when political leaders, including "star campaigners" make "inflammatory and provocative speeches." It has set for them an eight-point guideline on how to act in such cases. In its letter to the UP, the poll panel has criticised the Akhilesh Yadav government for "soft pedalling" on action against its minister Azam Khan for what it has described as his "undesirable activities".
 
Mr Khan alleged that he faces a ban and criminal charges as the Election Commission "had to strike a balance as they were anyway proceeding against Amit Shah." The UP government has filed FIRs against Amit Shah, a close aide of the BJP's prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi, for talking about "revenge" for the communal violence that tore through Muzaffarnagar last year. Mr Shah delivered the controversial speeches in Bijnor and Shamli, in the riot-scarred western UP region. The Election Commission has already issued a notice to the BJP leader. (Read: Amit Shah's 'revenge' remark in riot-hit area sparks controversy)
 
Azam Khan too has made several provocative speeches recently, including one in Ghaziabad on Tuesday when he said that the Kargil war was won by Muslim soldiers. The panel said despite a notice sent to him, he is "still indulging in the violation of model code of conduct and statutory laws, and making derogatory and inflammatory statements, using intemperate language as well."
http://www.ndtv.com/elections/article/election-2014/election-commission-bans-azam-khan-and-amit-shah-s-rallies-in-uttar-pradesh-507423?pfrom=home-lateststories

 Read: BJP brass rallies behind Shah, sees nothing wrong with speech
Read: Told crowd to avenge injustice by casting ballots, didn't speak of revenge, says Amit Shah

 Siddharth Varadarajan - Votes and vengeance
If Shah had addressed people from both the communities affected by last year’s incidents and asked them to vote for the BJP in order to take revenge against the UP government for failing to protect their lives, izzat and property, there would have been no controversy. But Shah did nothing of the sort. Instead, he presented himself in three meetings in Shamli and Raajhar as a representative of Hindus and made it clear he was concerned only about the insults and injustice that had supposedly been meted out to “us”. “We have been treated as second-class citizens,” Shah said at one of the meetings, his voice choking with emotion. “Justice has not been given to us.” Here are some more quotes:  “This is not just another election. This is the time to avenge the insult meted out to our community. This election will be a reply to those who have been ill-treating our mothers and sisters.” -------- “A man can live without food or sleep. He can live when he’s thirsty and hungry. But when he’s insulted, he can’t live. We must seek revenge for the insult heaped on us.” --------“People who have insulted our community, those who have killed our youth, can we feel honoured sitting with them?”
The BJP has made much of the fact that in one of the meetings, Shah tells his audience to take revenge by pressing a button and voting for the right party. But what remains uncontested is the ugly reality of its senior leader wading into a sensitive area that saw the killing of around 50 people, the rape of women and the displacement of thousands of families, and calling not for peace and justice, relief and rehabilitation for all, but for “our community” to avenge itself.
http://dilipsimeon.blogspot.in/2014/04/siddharth-varadarajan-votes-and.html

 Irresponsible speeches - Togadia & Modi in Kerala // Amit Shah & Azam Khan in UP

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