Azam Khan slams BJP for highlighting beef row

Questioning Prime Minister Narendra Modi's silence on the Dadri lynching case, Uttar Pradesh Minority Welfare and Urban Development Minister Azam Khan on Monday expressed surprise over the fact that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) whose sole agenda was development has all of a sudden started attaching importance to the beef controversy.

"Till now, development was the issue for BJP but now beef has become the issue," Khan told ANI here.

The Samajwadi Party leader asked Prime Minister Modi to break his silence on the Dadri case where a person was attacked and killed by mob.

He also appealed to Prime Minister Modi to stop those who are spreading violence and communalism across the country.

"When the RSS has decided to make the nation a Hindu state, then there must be discussion on this. Modi ji is silent on this. We are appealing to him to stop the killers," Khan said while addressing the media here.

"The Prime Minister tweets 'Ahimsa Parmo Dharma' and when he says so, some incidence occurs," he added.

Khan had earlier said that he would take the issue of communal violence in India to the United Nations.