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Lucknow: Senior Uttar Pradesh Congress leader Nasimuddin Siddiqui has filed a police complaint against BJP’s national spokesperson Sambit Patra and Canada-based Pakistani author Tarek Fatah for allegedly maligning his image.

Patra and Fatah shared a video on Twitter, targeting Siddiqui. In the video, a man is seen and heard saying: “First we are Muslims and then Hindustanis.”

“Loyalty is for dogs.

We Muslims own India;

our loyalty is to Islam.” Indian @INCIndia Congress leader Nasimuddin Siddiqui unashamedly rejects all Indian laws not in conformity with Islamic Sharia.https://t.co/gyQkT1AxSw — Tarek Fatah (@TarekFatah) December 31, 2019

The man in question is, however, not Siddiqui but Samajwadi Party leader Maviya Ali, and the video is from 2017.

“Tarek Fatah and Sambit Patra have posted a fake video on Facebook and Twitter…I want to make it clear that it is neither my image, nor my voice in the video. The video is completely fake and has been shared to damage my reputation and that of my family and party,” Siddiqui said in the complaint.

‘Conspiracy against me’

Siddiqui, an MLC, sent his complaint to the Uttar Pradesh DGP, the Lucknow senior superintendent of police and the Hazratganj Cyber Cell Thursday. No FIR had been registered at the time of writing this report.

“Fatah and Patra made an attempt to tarnish my image. I have never said such things, I’m not even in the video. In such a situation, some strict action needs to be taken against them,” Siddiqui told ThePrint.

The Congress leader said he has never used such foul language in his entire political career.

“These people are hatching a conspiracy against me. Action must be taken in this case. I have also sent an email to Sambit and Tarek that this video is not mine, still they have not deleted their tweets,” he said.

UP Congress spokesperson Anshu Awasthi said it is the handiwork of BJP leaders to spread lies. “It is a blatant attempt to spread confusion among people on social media. Patra’s lies have been exposed by this fake video,” he told ThePrint.

What Ali said in video

In the video, Ali is saying: “At first we are Muslims, and only then we are Hindustanis. If any law is in conflict with the Islam, then we will follow Islam. We are not ready to accept that Constitution, that law (which is against Islam). We are not loyal to this country. In fact, we are the owners of this country. Only dogs are loyal and we are not dogs.”

Sharing the video on Twitter, Patra quoted Ali’s speech and even tagged former Congress president Rahul Gandhi and party’s general secretary in charge of Eastern UP Priyanka Gandhi Vadra.

Fatah, while tweeting the video, posted: “Indian @INCIndia Congress leader Nasimuddin Siddiqui unashamedly rejects all Indian laws not in conformity with Islamic Sharia.”

Who are Nasimuddin Siddiqui & Maviya Ali?

Siddiqui, who was earlier with Mayawati’s Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), switched sides in 2018 due to differences with the BSP supremo.

He was a cabinet minister in the BSP government between 2007 and 2012. At that time, he was considered a close confidant of Mayawati.

In 2019, he unsuccessfully contested the Lok Sabha elections from Bijnor.

Maviya Ali, who was earlier with the Congress, is from western UP. In 2017, he had unsuccessfully contested the assembly election from Deoband on an SP ticket.

Ali is not new to controversy. Earlier, he had strongly opposed the Yogi government for asking madrasas to celebrate Independence Day and record video of such events.

Also read: Behind Sambit Patra’s struggle with trillion’s zeroes, a Congressman who was XLRI professor

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