Indore: Kapil Sibal questions killing of Atiq & Ashraf, says ‘Nation in crisis, as institutions captured by ruling dispensation’

Indore (Madhya Pradesh): Former congress leader and Member of Parliament (Rajya Sabha) Kapil Sibal slammed the Narendra Modi government and said that the nation is going through a crisis as all major institutions have been ‘captured’ by the ruling dispensation.

Talking to the media during a meet the press on Sunday, Sibal said, “Institutions like the Parliament and Election Commission, as well as universities, have been 'captured' by the ruling dispensation.”

He added that the Enforcement Directorate was being used against the opposition but the probe agency was not touching a single Bharatiya Janata Party leader. “It is like ED is active in the states where opposition parties have the government but not in the states where BJP government is ruling,” Sibal said.

He also questioned the killing of gangster-turned-politician Atiq Ahmad and his brother Ashraf in Prayagraj in Uttar Pradesh while in the custody of the police and termed the incident shameful.

"What was the emergency that both of them had to be taken handcuffed for a medical check-up so late at night, that too on foot? How did the media know about the hospital visit? If the three accused did not know each other, how come they reached there at the same time? These are some of the questions that are being raised," Sibal said.

The Member of Parliament said that it is doubtful that the public would ever get answers to these questions. “The most shameful thing is some people are gloating and celebrating this killing as if they do not need the law."

He also said the three youths accused of shooting Atiq and Ashraf dead hailed from poor families and were not much educated, which showed that those not getting an education or employment could act in this manner.

I am not in Congress but will remain a Congressman always

In reply to a query, Sibal said he may not be in the Congress anymore but he still considered himself a Congressman as he can never leave the ideology of the party, though he ruled out the possibility of a return to its fold.

"I had made a statement a year ago that I will not join any party, and not the BJP even at the time of my death," he claimed.

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Commenting on same-sex marriages, senior advocate and Rajya Sabha MP Vivek Tankha said that he doesn’t see people in same-sex marriage as criminals. “I don’t see them as criminals but frankly I don’t want it at my home,” he said.