AIMIM spokesperson denies soot throwing incident, says 'fan applied kajal'

AIMIM national spokesperson Waris Pathan, after a mishap earlier on Tuesday which saw a local smearing him with soot in Madhya Pradesh's Indore, has now described the incident as an "act of love". Pathan said that it was not soot but 'kajal', which "spread all over his face after he tried to wash it off".

Indore: AIMIM national spokesperson Waris Pathan, after a mishap earlier on Tuesday which saw a local identified as Saddam allegedly smearing him with soot in Madhya Pradesh's Indore, has now described the incident as an "act of love". Pathan, who was on a daylong trip to Indore and surrounding areas to visit Muslim settlements, said that it was not soot but 'kajal', which "spread all over his face after he tried to wash it off".

The incident took place after Pathan, who had visited a housing society in Kharjana, faced protests from some residents. Amid the chaos, Saddam (32) smeared Pathan with soot out of a pot after garlanding him. However, Pathan, later in the day, said no such mishap had taken place. "He said he wanted to put kajal on me so that I do not meet with misfortune. After it, I went to wash my face, during which it got blackened. Nobody would throw soot on me, everyone loves me", he claimed.

Earlier, according to the police, the youth smeared soot on the AIMIM leader’s face after garlanding him. Expressing anger over the incident, the AIMIM’s state unit working president Dr. Naeem Ansari said that his party complained to the Khajrana police and demanded an investigation. Pathan had arrived in the city during the day to participate in the party’s organizational activities, Ansari said.