Bareilly , Aazad Samaj Party national president and Nagina MP Chandra Shekhar Azad on Wednesday targeted politics around religious issues in Uttar Pradesh, saying, “Religion is not under threat in the state; people are.”
On law and order, Azad referred to some incidents in the state and demanded that the government ensure the safety of ordinary citizens.
Addressing a rally here in support of party leader Achchan Ansari, Azad said education, employment, healthcare, security and dignity were among the issues confronting ordinary people and political discourse should focus on these basic concerns affecting the everyday lives of citizens. He targeted the state government over education, healthcare, employment and law and order, and said the common people’s concerns should take precedence over religious issues. On education, Azad said the condition of government schools would improve only when the children of government officials, ministers and those in power studied in these schools. On healthcare, Azad said access to health services was a right of every citizen, and it was the government’s responsibility to ensure that government hospitals had doctors, medicines, diagnostic facilities and other necessary services. He alleged that the law should be applied equally to all citizens and said action should be based on the crime and not on the identity of the accused. Pointing to the recent movements by students and young people, Azad said the Bhim Army and the Aazad Samaj Party had continued to raise issues concerning education and the youth “from the streets to Parliament”.
