Priyanka Gandhi writes to Yogi, demands release of Kafeel Khan

Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi has written to UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath demanding the release of Dr Kafeel Khan who is in jail after the NSA was invoked against him by the government.

In her letter to the UP Chief Minister, she said that she wanted to raise the issue of Kafeel Khan who has spent around 450 days in jail. Khan has selflessly served the people in tough times.

"I hope that you will look into the matter in a sensitive way and ensure that Dr Khan gets justice," said Priyanka Gandhi.

At the end of the letter, Priyanka invoked a Guru Gorakhnath hymn, which means: Do not discriminate, speak sweet words. If the other person is seething with anger, then you must use water to calm him down.

The Allahabad High Court is hearing the matter of the NSA against Khan invoked by the Aligarh district administration in February 2019. The court is set to hear the matter on August 5.

The Special Task Force (STF) of Uttar Pradesh had arrested Kafeel Khan from Mumbai in January this year. He is accused of making inflammatory remarks at Aligarh Muslim University during a protest against the Citizenship Amendment Act on December 12, 2019.

He was suspended from Gorakhpur's BRD medical college and hospital after many children died due to lack of oxygen.

The Congress has taken up his cause and even protested his detention.

In a move which is likely to open another front in the ongoing political battle between the resurgent Congress and the incumbent BJP in Uttar Pradesh, the Congress party has launched a campaign for the release of jailed Dr Kafeel Khan.

Dr. Khan was earlier arrested in August 2017 on corruption allegations in Gorakhpur’s BRD hospital’s encephalitis deaths case. He was released on bail in April 2018 and a departmental inquiry commissioned by the Adityanath government cleared him of the charges in September 2019.

Kafeel Khan was involved in multiple campaigns in Bihar last year, offering free medical care to patients after the state saw several encephalitis deaths.