Dalit leader and Bhim Army chief Chandra Shekhar Azad, who sustained a bullet injury after a failed assassination attempt on Wednesday evening, was discharged from SBD Hospital in Saharanpur of Uttar Pradesh on Thursday.
A bullet grazed Azad's abdomen when unidentified assailants opened fire at his car in Saharanpur district's Deoband where he had gone to attend a ritual at a supporter's home.
Following the incident, Azad had appealed for peace, saying the fight is to be done Constitutionally. "I did not expect such a sudden attack. I want to appeal to my friends, supporters and workers across the country to maintain peace. We will continue our fight Constitutionally...I am fine with the love and blessings of crores of people," news agency ANI quoted Azad as saying.
Wrestlers Bajrang Punia and Sakshi Malik met Azad at the hospital. Punia said those behind the attack on Azad should be arrested as soon as possible.
Meanwhile, Bhim Army and Azad Samaj Party activists handed over to a government official a memorandum addressed to the governor demanding that Azad's security be stepped up.
Azad charged that UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath was shielding the criminals on the basis of caste and religion and demanded his resignation.
In a note posted on Twitter, Aazad alleged the law and order situation in Uttar Pradesh is worsening and "government-backed" criminals are in high spirits.
"My 56-inch chest is real, not fake. The fatal attack on me is a failure of the government because the security of the people of the state is the responsibility of the government and I am also a responsible citizen of the state," he said in his note. The chief minister should take moral responsibility for protecting criminals and resign immediately, he said.
Aazad said what happened to him could happen to the chief of any other political party or their supporters.
"There are two reasons for this. Firstly, the law and order situation in Uttar Pradesh is getting worse and secondly, the government is providing protection to criminals on the basis of caste and religion. Due to this, the government-backed criminals are in high spirits. Today, they neither fear the law nor the police," he charged.
He said when such criminals can target politicians like him, one cannot imagine the atrocities being committed against women, Dalits, backward classes, tribals and minorities in the state. “Some people are so drunk on power that they are bent on silencing the voices being raised against them,” Aazad said, without naming anyone.
"Earlier, these people used to misuse ED, CBI and Income Tax officials for this, then they started getting fake police encounters done and now government-backed criminals have started using guns and bullets to eliminate opposition leaders," he said.
"They are forgetting that the history of India is full of our forefathers' sacrifices. They are forgetting that even today our Bahujan Samaj is protecting the country by giving their lives on the borders without any fear. I am also a part of the same society. That's why you can neither make Chandrashekhar bow down nor scare or shake him with bullets and guns," he said.
(With PTI inputs.)