Ezaj Ali. Telegraph picture

Patna, May 19: Former Rajya Sabha member and national president of All India United Muslim Morcha (AIUMM) Ezaj Ali has accused the Congress-led central government of using official machinery to harass him.

His statement has come after his arrest in connection with a 2007 case in which he was accused of defacing public property in Hauz Khas area in New Delhi.

He was arrested on the evening of May 14 near ITO and was forwarded to Tihar jail from where he was released on Wednesday evening. Ezaj was also made to pay a fine of Rs 200 for his offence.

“The Congress is using arm-pulling tactics to curb my struggle for Dalit Muslims, else the Delhi police would not have arrested me,” Ejaz told The Telegraph over the phone from Delhi. “I will not intensify my struggle and not bow down before such arm-twisting tactics,” he added. Ejaz said had it not been the case, many other leaders, whose posters are still pasted on the walls, would have been arrested. “Congress talks of secularism but its government is not taking action against BJP leader Anurag Thakur whose Kashmir Yatra posters are still visible in Delhi.”

Giving reasons for his alleged victimisation, Ejaz said that he had been raising issues related to Dalit Muslims and also advocated quota for Dalit Muslim women in the proposed reservation for women in Parliament and this might not have gone down well the Congress leadership.

He said that he was made to clean drains and sleep on the floor during his stay in Tihar jail and he was treated like other criminals.

“I got a call from a lady who was willing to meet me for some medical advice. When I told her that I was stuck near ITO as my vehicle had developed snag, she asked me about the exact location. Only after the lady met me I realised that she was a police officer who had been deputed to arrest me,” he said.