Samajwadi Party leader Naresh Agarwal has asked media to refrain from playing up the Uttar Pradesh Government's decision to suspend Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer Durga Shakti Nagpal and avoid making her the centre of political focus in the country.
Describing it as a non-issue, Agarwal said: "Don't make Durga Shakti Nagpal an issue for the sake of TRPs (Target Rating Points). She has abided with the order of the state government. It is not a long punishment. She is young and has a long career in front of her. Why are you making her a controversial issue? Action will be taken after her statement. Maybe she even gets a very good posting, based on the work that she has done."
Rubbishing the legitimacy of the uproar against the Samajwadi Party-led U.P. government's suspension of the IAS officer, Agarwal said, " If she had complained, then maybe the controversy and debate was valid."
Before her suspension, Nagpal, 28, was posted as sub-divisional magistrate (SDM) of Uttar Pradesh's Gautam Buddh Nagar District. She was placed on suspension on July 30, less than a year after getting her first posting, for stopping the illegal building of a mosque on government-owned land.
The Uttar Pradesh Government described the suspension order as an "administrative decision", and added that Nagapal's demolition order could have triggered communal tension in the area during the month of Ramzan.
"Sometimes, we have to take such decisions to prevent communal tension," said state Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav.
On Thursday, representatives of the All India IAS Officers Association met the Minister for Personnel V. Narayanasamy in New Delhi, and submitted a memorandum asking for the revocation of the suspension order on Nagpal.
Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav adamantly defended his government's stand, saying the bureaucrat had ordered the demolition of a portion of the mosque, which might have resulted in disturbing peace in the state.
"You should inquire from the people of that village. The Muslim families collected donation for building a mosque, a wall was built, and you took the decision without holding any consultation and spoilt the environment there," Yadav said on Thursday.
The young 2009-batch IAS officer came to limelight over her crackdown on the sand mining mafia, which ran rampant along the Yamuna and Hindon rivers in western Uttar Pradesh. According to reports, Nagpal had seized nearly 300 trolleys of sand being illegally mined from the Yamuna river bed.
Yadav on Thursday said that mining was not the reason for which the action was taken.
"The government will act against all those who act against goodwill and brotherhood or try to spoil the environment by of their work," he added, while rubbishing reports that the state government acted tough only because it was a matter of illegal mining.
"If you look at the record of the last two to three months then you will come to know that truck and machines were caught. We are also desirous that illegal mining should not take place," Yadav said.
