BAREILLY: In a controversial statement on Friday’s Paris attacks , senior Samajwadi Party leader and UP minister Azam Khan said the global superpowers must realize that the terror attack was a reaction to their action in Syria and Iraq . Khan, who condemned the terror attack as unfortunate, however, added that European cities “cannot be lit up with the ill-gotten wealth from the oil reserves of Middle East”.

Maintaining that the root cause of the recent global crisis is economic interests of US and its allies in West Asia, Khan said, “Do you want to light up cities like Paris, known for their wine and party culture, with the money earned through illegally occupying oil reserves in Iraq, Syria, Libya and Iran? The bombardments in Iraq and Syria on suspected IS strongholds apart from killing innocent civilians are also rendering thousands homeless. What justification do they have for this?”

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Blaming the US and Russia for precipitating crisis in the troubled region, Khan said, “Western powers have already destroyed countries, like Libya, Syria, Afghanistan, and to some extent, Iran. The reason is simple: they want to acquire oil reserves in these countries by brute force and deck up their own cities which is totally unjustified.”

Lashing out at Western powers for trying to grab power though illegitimate means, Khan said, “If you want to earn money and retain your splendour, you should slog like Indians and earn it. At least, you shouldn't be resorting to unethical means.”

When asked if violence as a means to deal with any such “injustice” could be justified, Khan said, “It is debatable. Because people should know who lit the first match stick before they analyze the ravaging fire that is burning across nations. Killing innocents whether in Syria or Paris is a highly deplorable act and the whole world should condemn it. But then, if you created such a situation, you have to face the backlash too.”

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