Students of the Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) took out a march on Monday demanding bail for senior Samajwadi Party leader Azam Khan on medical grounds. Lodged in Sitapur jail since 2019, the Rampur Member of Parliament had been admitted to a private hospital in Lucknow because of post-COVID-19 complications.
Describing his arrest as “an act of political vengeance”, the students submitted a memorandum to the President of India, demanding a “fair probe” into the charges levelled against him and that cases against him be transferred outside Uttar Pradesh.
A nine-time MLA, Mr. Khan is an alumnus of the AMU and was the secretary of the university’s students’ union.
“We want to ask the so-called secular parties who have not raised their voices in support of Azam Khan: Are they afraid of CBI and ED?,” said student leader Farhan Zuberi. “We are not supporting him as a political leader but as an ex-student of AMU. He has fought for the minority character of the university. And took the vision of Sir Syed forward by establishing Mohammed Ali Jauhar University in Rampur. At a time when he is being unfairly targeted, we should stand by him,” he said.
Student leader Mohd. Kunwar Ahmed said Mr. Khan was being targeted because he spoke for the rights of the poor and the underprivileged. “The fascist forces are tormenting him to please a particular community,” said Mr. Ahmed.
“Political power is not permanent What you are doing against him could happen to those in power as well,” said Nadeem Ansari.
