Author: Biswajeet Banerjee
Publication: The Pioneer
Date: February 23, 2006
For Uttar Pradesh Haj and Minority Welfare
Development Minister Haji Yaqoob Qureshi, defiance is the keyword when it
comes to defending his shocking announcement in the name of religious faith.
Be it the Union Government's advise to exercise
restraint or the displeasure of Samwajwadi Party bosses, Haji Qureshi is unfazed
about his announcement last Friday of rewarding Rs 51 crores to any one beheading
the Danish cartoonists who caricatured Prophet Mohammad. "I can collect
this amount in just two hours," he boasted.
The defiant Haji asked politicians not to
"play politics in religious matters." He even dared Chief Minister
Mulayam Singh Yadav to sack him. "Mind you, if I am forced to resign
many people will follow suit," he claimed.
In the process of defending himself, the Minister
did not mind ruffling the feathers of party heavyweights. "Yes, I know
Amar Singh has criticised me and my remark. But who is Amar Singh? Is he my
leader?" he said.
"Mulayam Singhji is my leader. He has
made me Minister. If he asks for my resignation I will tender it. But mind
you, many more people will resign with me," he said. "Dikkat ho
jayegi sarkar ke liye," (It will create problems for the government),
he told `The Pioneer' on telephone from Meerut.Haji Qureshi had won the Assembly
election from Khakhonda constituency in Meerut on a BSP ticket. He made headlines
in August 2003 when he deserted the BSP along with 12 other legislators and
formed a separate political group.
Later, the group merged with the Samajwadi
Party. As a reward, the Chief Minister made him a Minister.Ever eager to remain
in the eye of a storm, he challenged the powerful Muslim lobby in the Samajwadi
Party headed by Cabinet-rank minister Azam Khan and questioned as to why the
Minister interfered in Haj matters.