Digvijay Singh explains Azamgarh trip

Bhopal: Senior Congress leader Digvijay Singh on Friday said his last week's visit to Azamgarh in Uttar Pradesh was aimed at taking on the Muslim fundamentalists who were trying to misguide the minority community's youth and spreading falsehoods about the law-enforcing agencies.

"The communal and emotional tone of the Ulema Council in Azamgarh was a cause of worry for all those who believe in democracy," he said while talking to reporters here.

He explained the reasons behind his visit to Azamgarh, where he met the families whose wards had been arrested in connection with terror-related incidents in the last two years.

"When I met the affected families, I realised that in spite of the passage of time they had certain misgivings." The Congress General Secretary said there were a series of meetings with local Muslims and Hindus and consensus emerged that speedy and fair trial in the terror-related cases was in everyone's interest.

The former Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister said nearly 50 cases had been slapped in over four states against several Muslim youths on suspicion that they were involved in anti-national activities.

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"I think there was a need to address this issue through special courts and National Investigation Agency (NIA)," Singh said, adding there should not be any witch-hunt or setting up of false cases.