On 5 May 2023, Friday, Vinod Kapri had a rude awakening to the scourge of ‘liberalism’ and ‘Islamism’ he routinely defends in his bid to undermine the BJP government at the centre. A bevvy of Islamists and leftists descended on Kapri’s Twitter page, attacking him for what they considered an unpardonable mistake of questioning their pied piper, Rana Ayyub.
Kapri had posted a mildly critical tweet questioning Rana Ayyub for whitewashing the criminal history of slain mafia Atiq Ahmed and presenting him as a martyred ‘lawmaker’ in her speech at UNESCO. His tweet also included a snippet of Ayyub’s hyperventilation at the UNESCO panel event, where she glorified Atiq Ahmed as a ‘lawmaker’ who was killed while being in custody earlier last month.
“Questions should be raised over Atiq Ahmed’s killing. Questions should also be raised on the rule of law in UP, but When you call someone who has lived like a mafia and a goon all his life a LAWMAKER, you lose your credibility,” a loose translation of what Kapri tweeted in Hindi.
But no sooner did Kapri question Rana Ayyub over her remarks at the UNESCO panel, than a raft of Islamists swooped down in his mentions, attacking him and justifying the donation fraud accused’s description of a mafia who had over 100 cases registered against him.
Mohammad Anas, a former Research Associate at the Rajiv Gandhi Foundation and followed by the likes of Ravish Kumar and Islamist Sharjeel Usmani, lambasted Kapri asking him what he would call a former MP and 5-times MLA, in an apparent reference to Atiq Ahmed.
Another Islamist masquerading as a journalist responded to Kapri’s tweet, citing random incidents such as the Babri demolition to defend Rana Ayyub’s eulogy for a mafia don.
Another Twitter user insinuated that Atiq was not a mafia but a victim of the media propaganda.
Yet another Twitter user tried to insult Kapri by referring to him as an ‘idol worshipper’—a term used as a pejorative by Islamists to describe Hindus—and held that Atiq Ahmed was hailed as a hero for billions across the globe.
A Twitter user quoted Kapri’s tweet alleging that he and his wife, Sakshi Joshi, harbour pathological hatred toward Muslims.
Islamist Md Asif Khan was also among those who attacked Kapri for questioning Rana Ayyub over her speech at UNESCO.
Alishan Jafri, a journalist who has contributed to propaganda outlets like The Wire, Al Jazeera, and many more, bloviated that since the media describes many parliamentarians in the country with criminal backgrounds as legislators, Atiq Ahmed, who was allegedly involved in over 100 criminal cases, including the murders of Raju Pal and Umesh Pal, could be described as a lawmaker.
The entire episode, nevertheless, reflects the inflexibility and intolerance of the Islamoleftist apparatus, where dissent, especially from a Hindu comrade, regardless of his past loyalty to the Islamist narrative, attracts a fierce pushback from minions as well as the Left ideologues, with labels of ‘idol worshipper’ being pejoratively thrown around to insult and discredit their genuine concerns. It reveals that no amount of loyalty would protect one from attack if one tries to be maverick and level-headed, even if occasionally, and draws attention toward the farce of whitewashing the crimes of a criminal and lionising him as a legislator.
Ironically, those losing their sleep over Kapri’s questions to Rana Ayyub for describing Atiq Ahmed, a dreaded mafia don, as a lawmaker cannot bring themselves to come to terms with the reality that politicians they viscerally hate like Sadhavi Pragya Thakur, Narendra Modi, Yogi Adityanath, or Amit Shah, have all been democratically elected to the position they currently hold.
While they drone on how Atiq Ahmed was an elected MLA and MP, the same yardstick doesn’t apply to politicians they oppose, using their election to attack the political parties they pathologically hate instead of being graceful and receptive to the public mandate.
Atiq Ahmed: Gangster-turned-politician with more than 100 FIRs against him
Nevertheless, Atiq Ahmed was no hero that Rana Ayyub and her minions painted him to be. 102 cases were filed against Atiq Ahmed, including those of threats, murder attempts, and kidnapping. The gangster act was brought against him a total of three times. Even while incarcerated in different jails in Uttar Pradesh, he held meetings and ran his criminal empire. The initial complaint was filed against him in 1979. A total of 54 cases have been heard so far at UP police stations.
Gangster-politician Atiq Ahmed and his brother Ashraf Ahmed were shot dead while being taken for medical in Prayagraj, Uttar Pradesh, last month. Before his death, his son Asad Ahmed and his aide Ghulam were also shot dead in retaliatory firing by Uttar Pradesh Police.
