Two days after the Taliban took control of Afghanistan, Samajwadi Party MP from Uttar Pradesh’s Sambhal, Shafiqur Rahman Barq, was seen extending his support to the Jihadist organisation. On Tuesday, August 17, the SP MP, who remains in news due to his controversial statements, tried to legitimise the radical Islamist outfit as he opined that the Talibanis have only recaptured the land that originally belonged to them.
https://twitter.com/ANINewsUP/status/1427509501783986177?ref_src=twsrc%5EtfwShamelessly drawing an equivalence between these Jihadists and India’s freedom fighters, the Samajwadi Party leader said that like our countrymen fought for freedom from the British, the Talibanis also wants to free their country and run it. “When India was under British rule, our country fought for freedom. Now Taliban wants to free their country & run it”, the SP leader was quoted by ANI as saying.
Further heaping praises for the Jihadist outfit, Shafiqur Rahman Barq added, “Taliban is a force that did not allow even strong countries like Russia and America to settle in their country”.
Interestingly, the SP MP’s statement is in line with Pakistan PM and Taliban sympathiser Imran Khan who justified the Taliban’s actions by claiming that the Afghan population had broken the ‘chains of slavery’. He also remarked that ‘cultural imposition’ (by the United States) was tantamount to ‘mental slavery.’
The Samajwadi Party leading has a track record of making extremely problematic comments. He had once said, “BJP not only tampered with Shariat but also got girls caught and raped. Mistakes like mob lynching were done with Muslims. The government is now facing the brunt of which in the form of corona.”
Shafiqur Rahman Barq is the same Samajwadi leader who had created a controversy by saying in Parliament that Vande Mataram is against Islam.