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The tug-of-war between the union government and the Uttar Pradesh government on the suspension of Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer Durga Shakti Nagpal took a dramatic turn after several Muslim clerics came out in support of the 28-year-old officer and demanded immediate reinstatement.
The United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government has also decided to take on the Samajwadi Party government in the state and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh assured that the centre was in touch with the state government and all rules will be followed. Meanwhile, the union government has said that it was waiting for the report from Uttar Pradesh government but if the IAS officer writes a letter to the centre directly then they will also seek a report on the basis of the letter.
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“The demolition of the masjid wall was as per the lekhpal's report and the SP government is trying to make it into a Muslim issue.The government wants to show that Muslims want that an honest officer be suspended for the construction of a mosque. Durga Shakti Nagpal has been used as a sacrificial goat,” Aamir Rashadi Madni, President of Rashtriya Ulama Council, told media.
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Coming under attack from all quarters, the Uttar Pradesh government has toughened its stand against Nagpal and has dared the union government to withdraw all IAS officers from Uttar Pradesh. Samajwadi Party, an ally of the United Progressive Alliance (UPA), has been shifting its stand on the crucial food security bill to put pressure on the centre.
“Uttar Pradesh would say that we do not want any IAS officer. Let the Centre withdraw all these officers from the state and it would run the state with its own officers,” said Ram Gopal Yadav, senior leader of Samajwadi Party. The union government has asked the state government to immediately file a detailed report on the suspension of Nagpal, who had cracked down on sand mafia
Voice of support for Nagpal has also come from Maulana Yasoob Abbas, spokesman of the Shia Muslim Personal Law Board, who asked the Uttar Pradesh government to immediately revoke the suspension and she be allowed to take action against the sand mining mafia active in Gautam Budh Nagar. “The decision to suspend her had nothing to do with the mosque but her drive against the illegal sand mafia,” said Abbas, according to media reports.
According to the recent report of the local intelligence unit (LIU) from Gautam Budh Nagar, the report states that Nagpal was not present at site when the wall of a local mosque was demolished in Kadalpur village. The Uttar Pradesh government has suspended Nagpal and also filed a chargesheet against her on charges of demolishing the wall of a mosque and which led to communal tension in the village and nearby areas.
Most of the political parties, including Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Congress, have criticised the suspension of the IAS officer and have demanded that the state government must reinstate her immediately. However, the Samajwadi Party supremo, Mulayan Singh Yadav has also now come in support of his chief minister son Akhilesh Yadav and has supported his decision to suspend the 2009 batch IAS from Punjab cadre who was on deputation to Uttar Pradesh since September 2012 after her marriage to an Uttar Pradesh cadre IAS officer.
Just a week before being suspended by the Uttar Pradesh government, the 28-year-old officer was responsible for the arrest of 15 people and had imposed a fine of Rs.2 crore on the illegal sand miners in Gautam Budh Nagar. The flying squads formed by Nagpal had seized 24 dumpers and 300 trolleys which were used by sand mafias.
