In a recent rally in the poll-bound Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh CM Yogi Adityanath took a jibe at the erstwhile Congress led UPA regime for going too soft on the terrorist convicted in the 26/11 Mumbai terror attack. At an election rally in Makrana, Adityanath said, “Congress has always played divisive politics. It is the result of the division and divisive politics that terrorism was on the rise in the country. Today you can see that the terrorists which were fed Biryani by Congress are now fed bullets by us”.
Several media organizations have reported the statement made by Yogi Adityanath including Republic TV, Times Now, India Today, Swarajya, NDTV, The Financial Express and ANI.
A fabrication
In March 2015, Ujjwal Nikam, the public prosecutor who argued on behalf of the state in the 26/11 Mumbai terror attack case had disclosed that he had fabricated the story of Ajmal Kasab being fed biryani in jail to counter an emotional wave created in Kasab’s favour. Speaking to the media, Nikam had said, “Kasab neither asked for biryani nor it was served by the government. I concocted it just to break an emotional atmosphere which was taking shape in favour of Kasab during the trial of the case”.
According to a report, Nikam earlier had said, “On Raksha Bandhan, he had inquired from his lawyer whether some girl would come to tie a Rakhi on his wrist, while on another occasion he threw tantrums for mutton biryani to be served to him in jail”.
It may be noted that Times Now, India Today, NDTV and Swarajya have referred to the clarifying statement made by the public prosecutor in their news reports.
Despite the public prosecutor’s clarification being reported in 2015, three years later, the same falsified claim was utilized by Yogi Adityanath for political propaganda.
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