By Mumtaz Alam, India Tomorrow,
New Delhi/Mumbai, 01 March 2014: Angry over use of his name and wrong statement in a newspaper ad of Bharatiya Janata Party, former Inspector General of Police, Maharashtra Mr. SM Mushrif has sent a notice to the party asking it to publish clarification or face legal action.
In the Delhi edition of Indian Express on 27 Feb 2014, a quarter-page ad was published by Vapi (Gujarat) unit of BJP. The ad carried pictures and alleged endorsement from SM Mushrif. The sentences attributed to Mushrif were full of praises for party’s prime ministerial candidate and Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi and Gujarat also.
Talking to India Tomorrow, Mr. Mushrif denied he had sent any endorsement for Modi, nor did he allow the party to use his name in the election ad.
BJP ad in Indian Express (27 Feb 2014) depicting SM Mushrif and others
Later in the evening on 28 Feb, Mr. Mushrif sent an email notice to party president Rajnath Singh.
In his notice, Mr Mushrif said that by wrongly attributing some statement to him, the Vapi unit of the party has lowered his image in the public eye and has defamed him. He asked the party to publish clarification in the same paper where the ad appeared otherwise he would be constrained to take criminal and/or civil action against the party.
Text of the email notice of SM Mushrif:
S.M. Mushrif
IPS (Retd.)
Date: 28-02-2014
To,
The National President,
Bhartiya Janta Party,
This has a reference to the advertisement published by Vapi unit of the BJP in the Delhi edition of the Indian Express dated 27th Feb. 2014 (copy is attached). In the advertisement, apparently aimed at projecting Gujarat C.M. Mr. Narendra Modi as the BJP’s Prime Ministerial candidate for the Lok Sabha elections 2014, following sentences have been attributed to me:
“The most safe place for Muslims today is Gujarat. I dealt with several states. But no Chief Minister is as good, as strong and determined as Modi. Now even Muslims realize that Modi is good for them.”
I would like to point out that the part of the above quote viz. “I dealt with several states. But no Chief Minister is as good, as strong and determined as Modi. Now even Muslims realize that Modi is good for them” is absolutely wrong. I have never said so or written so anywhere.
So far as the first sentence viz. “The most safe place for Muslims today is Gujarat” is concerned, it was only a part of the sentence from my article published in the English fortnightly “The Milli Gazette” in its issue dated 1-15 April 2013. But it was not the full sentence and hence does not correctly convey my point of view. The full sentence was “The most safe place for Muslims today is Gujarat, only because its Chief Minister Mr. Narendra Modi has ‘banned’ entry to the IB in Gujarat”. This sentence is followed by three sentences, “After spending more than 40 years in the RSS, Mr. Modi has now understood the games the hardcore elements in the RSS have been playing in the guise of the IB. After ‘banning’ IB, the Muslim atrocities in Gujarat have stopped. That is what is required to be done if we want to put a full stop to fake encounters, false terror attacks, their fabricated investigations and arrests of innocent Muslim boys.” These four sentences taken together bring my point home correctly.
But by quoting only a part of the sentence from my article out of context and also by wrongly attributing many more sentences to me, your Vapi unit has lowered my image in the public eye & has defamed me. Moreover, courtesy demanded that the officer bearers concerned obtained my prior permission before using my name in the advertisement of your political party. But they have failed to do so. Thus, they are liable for action both criminal & civil.
You are hereby requested to give suitable clarification in this regard and ensure that the same is prominently published in all the news-papers in which the advertisement has been published, failing which I shall be constrained to take criminal and/or civil action against the party.
Thanking you,
With regards,
S.M. Mushrif
Copy to : 1) The Editor, Indian Express
2) The Chairman, Press Council of India
3) The Election Commission of India
4) The President, BJP, Gujarat State
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