Land grabbing, stealing statues, almirahs and books- Samajwadi Party (SP) leader and MP from Rampur Mohammad Azam Khan always had a knack of getting into trouble for one reason or another, but this time he seems to have beat himself.
Curiously Rampur police are investigating a case against Azam Khan, the founder and chancellor of the Mohammad Ali Jauhar University for stealing about 2,000 rare and precious books and manuscripts from the 250 years old Aaliya Madarsa. The books bearing the stamp of the madarsa and the almirah in which they were kept has been recovered from Jauhar University’s library.
Azam Khan has allegedly been accused of land grabbing by the local farmers who claim that he usurped their land on behalf of the Jauhar University. The former Uttar Pradesh minister has also been named in a FIRs in connection with the alleged forcible acquisition of land for Mohammad Ali Jauhar University.
A few months ago, the Rampur police reportedly lodged an FIR against the MP after two lion statues, said to be originally belonging to the Rampur Club, were recovered from the Jauhar University. According to sources, the statues were stolen at Azam Khan’s behest.
Intriguingly Azam Khan’s son Abdullah Khan, a sitting Uttar Pradesh legislator, was in thick soup for allegedly forging documents to obtain a passport. The Civil Lines police filed an FIR against him on a complaint filed by BJP leader Akash Saxena alleging discrepancies in age proof documents submitted for obtaining a passport.
In his complaint to the Rampur police, Saxena alleged that Abdullah obtained a passport on the basis of false documents. Based on his complaint, Abdullah Khan was booked under Sections 420, 467, 468, 471 of the Indian Penal Code and Section 12 of the Passport Act.
On another occasion, Abdullah Azam Khan an MLA from Suar constituency of Rampur district found himself at the other end of the law for obstructing search operation at Mohammad Ali Jauhar University.
One of the founding members of the Samajwadi Party, Azam Khan has been elected member of the legislative assembly from Rampur assembly constituency for a record number of nine terms.
Known to be a political spoilt-brat Azam Khan has always managed to invite trouble- e.g. soon after the Kargil War, he stirred a hornet’s nest when he reportedly said, “the peaks of Kargil were conquered not by Hindu, but Muslims soldiers”. This led to criticism in the media and an FIR against him. He refused to apologize and went on to allege that the Indian Election Commission had a bias against him because he was a Muslim.
On another occasion, was quoted as saying that Sanjay Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi were punished by Allah for their sins – i.e. forcible sterilization during Emergency, and demolition of Babri masjid, respectively.
Uttar Pradesh police filed charge sheets in 13 more cases against Khan for making derogatory remarks in the run-up to the recent Lok Sabha elections.
A charge sheet was also filed against his son, Abdullah Azam Khan, for his ‘khaki underwear’ remark directed towards BJP leader Jaya Prada. “I brought her (Jaya Prada) to Rampur. You are a witness that I did not allow anyone to touch her body. It took you 17 years to identify her real face but I got to know in 17 days that she wears khaki underwear,” Khan, said in a public rally.
