SBSP leader announces Rs 11 lakh reward to cut off tongue of AIMIM's UP chief

Ballia (UP), Sep 17 (PTI) Suheldev Bhartiya Samaj Party's Uttar Pradesh general secretary Shivendra Bahadur Singh on Wednesday announced Rs 11 lakh reward for anyone who cuts off the tongue of All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen's state president Shaukat Ali.

The announcement came in response to Ali's alleged derogatory remarks against Maharaja Suheldev, a medieval king revered by the Suheldev Bhartiya Samaj Party (SBSP) and its supporters.

Talking to reporters at the district headquarters, Singh accused Ali of being influenced by "Mughal thinking" and demanded that he be expelled from the country.

Earlier in the day, SBSP workers staged a protest outside the Ballia district magistrate's office demanding Ali's arrest and shouted slogans.

An FIR was registered against Ali and another person at Dehat police station in Bahraich on Tuesday based on a complaint lodged by Hindu Raksha Dal district general secretary Tilak Ram Mishra.

Mishra's complaint alleged that Ali, during a party programme at Feroz Bagwan's residence in Trimuhani Road on Sunday, referred to Maharaja Suheldev as a "lutera" (plunderer).

"Salar Masud Ghazi was not a 'lutera' but Suheldev was. Ghazi was a Muslim, and Muslims are just and fair," Ali had said addressing party workers, adding that Ghazi had fought against Suheldev's alleged injustices.

He had also claimed that the All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) had earlier been in alliance with Om Prakash Rajbhar's SBSP, but Rajbhar broke ties after AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi visited Salar Masud Ghazi's dargah in Bahraich and aligned with the Samajwadi Party instead.

The FIR -- registered under Sections 353(2) (statements conducing public mischief) and 196(1)B (promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion, race etc) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita -- alleges that Ali's remarks were intended at disrupting communal harmony, police said.

On June 10, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath inaugurated a grand memorial for Maharaja Suheldev at Bahraich's Chittora and unveiled a 40-foot statue of the king.

Adityanath had described Maharaja Suheldev as a revered hero and Ghazi as an invader. PTI COR ABN RUK RUK