Congress’s Ram Naresh Yadav was the first to land, followed by BSP’s Akbar Ahmed Dumpy. Today, it was the turn of Samajwadi Party’s Abu Asim Azmi and Shahi Imam of Delhi’s Jama Masjid, Syed Ahmed Bukhari.

At Bashir’s residence, the Imam consoled his father: “God will do justice and the community will benefit from your son’s sacrifices.” And when he came out of the two-room house which leaked in the heavy downpour, the Imam asked Muslims to come out on the streets if the injustice continued. Bukhari addressed a crowd of over 2,000 who gathered for a rally organised by the Samajwadi Party.

“They have arrested many innocent Muslims without proof. We are being targeted and the government does not care about our community,” Bukhari told the crowd.

“Why don’t they share the proof? Why do they arrest (him) from the house and claim to have arrested him from Lucknow? How can they hand over the innocent poor young man, a namazi, to the policemen of Narendra Modi?” the Imam told the rally.

Later, talking to The Indian Express, Bukhari clarified that his appearance with Azmi was not planned. “We both were coming here to meet Bashir’s family,” he said.

Azmi, an Azamgarh native who made it big in Mumbai, demanded a probe by a Parliamentary Committee or by a panel of “secular” judges. “I myself was victimised and put behind the bar for frivolous reasons and hence aware of the trend and pain,” he said while promising all support of the SP in the ‘war’ against the “biased mindset.”

Akbar Ahmed ‘Dumpy’, the BSP MP who visited the village on Wednesday, and Yadav, who landed the day after the arrest was made public, had promised the father of help. “Dumpy promised to apprise Chief Minister Mayawati of the situation and Yadav said he would try get justice for us,” said Abu Baqr, Bashir’s father.