Disrespect was shown to Ahamed’s body after death, says PAC chief K V Thomas

Raking up the issue of the death of IUML leader E Ahamed at a Delhi hospital, Chairman of the Public Accounts Committee of Parliament K V Thomas on Saturday alleged that the government wanted to keep his body there till the budget was presented and said it was not only an “insult” to the late MP but also to the Muslim community.

Thomas also condemned the “ill-treatment” meted out to members of Ahamed’s family at the hospital after he was admitted there on January 31.

Demanding a probe by a Parliamentary Committee into the incident, Thomas also sought “strong action” against those who “insulted” the family of a senior parliamentarian.

“Had Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi not intervened strongly, Ahamed’s children would not have got the opportunity to see his body and offer prayers as per Muslim customs,” he claimed.

“...Disrespect was shown to his body..it was not only an insult to Ahamed but to the Muslim community as well,” Thomas, also a senior Congress leader, said in a release on Kochi.

Thomas alleged that Ahamed had passed away while he was taken to the hospital, but the government wanted to keep the body in hospital until the budget was presented.

The 78-year-old former Union minister and IUML MP collapsed during the President’s Address to the joint sitting of Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha on January 31. He was declared dead in the wee hours of next day, hours before presentation of the budget.

Congress and Left had on Friday raked up inside and outside Parliament the issue of the death of the Lok Sabha MP, alleging that he was shown alive under PMO “pressure” to allow budget presentation.

While raising the issue, they forced premature adjournment of Lok Sabha for the day as they created ruckus by alleging that “ill-treatment” was meted out to Ahamed’s family members at the government hospital after he was admitted there.