Azmi urges speaker to withdraw his suspension | Mumbai news

Samajwadi Party MLA Abu Azmi, who was recently suspended from the legislative assembly after courting controversy for praising Mughal emperor Aurangzeb and allegedly insulting Chhatrapati Sambhaji Maharaj, has written to assembly speaker Rahul Narwekar requesting him to withdraw the suspension. “The suspension is unjust as I have not made any statement about Chhatrapati Sambhaji Maharaj. So I have requested the speaker to cancel my suspension,” said Azmi.

Azmi was suspended on March 5, following his remark, “Aurangzeb was a very good administrator,” two days earlier. It led to an uproar in the legislative assembly and council from both the ruling and opposition parties.

Azmi reached out to Narwekar on Friday to cancel the suspension. “The media tried to malign me by misrepresenting my statement. I humbly request that my suspension be withdrawn as I am not guilty in this matter. I stated that Aurangzeb was a capable administrator based on historical facts and writing of experts in this matter. The conflicts between Aurangzeb and Chhatrapati Shivaji or Chhatrapati Sambhaji Maharaj were not about religion but about power and land. I do not believe in caste or religious discrimination,” Azmi said in the letter.

When HT reached out to Azmi, he accused the ruling Mahayuti government of double standards. “My statements were not derogatory, and yet the government took action against me. But the same government did not act against people like actor Rahul Solapurkar and Nagpur-based journalist Prashant Koratkar who actually made derogatory statements about Shivaji Maharaj and Sambhaji Maharaj. It shows the government indulging in Hindu-Muslim divide,” said Azmi.