Owaisi slams BJP for not giving tickets to Muslims

All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen chief Asaduddin Owaisi said that the Congress has moved on from its ‘soft Hindutva’ stance and is now following the Hindutva that is propagated by the BJP. 

Mr Owaisi, on Sunday, targeted the BJP on many fronts. “The BJP did not give tickets to Muslim candidates in both Gujarat and Karnataka. But Union minister of minority affairs Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi falsely claims that the Centre is working for the welfare of Muslims in the country.” 

Mr Owaisi said political representation offers multiple avenues for development but the BJP has marginalised the Muslim community and the Congress has also eventually adopted the BJP’s brand of Hindutva. 

Speaking about incidents of people being forced to chant slogans, Mr Owaisi said that no one should be forced to say ‘Bharat mata ki jai’. “If there was a law that required doing so, I would oblige. The Constitution has given freedom of speech and hence no one can force him.

He said that he takes pride in saying ‘Jai Hind’ and said that the two words were spoken even before freedom struggle. 

The AIMIM chief said that the notion of secularism has become an ‘expletive’ and is often being misused nowadays. Calling someone anti-national is also a convenient abuse, he said.

“I have always raised my voice for the country, but if you say that speaking against Modi is against the country then I do not believe in it,” said Owaisi.

Mr Owaisi slammed the Modi-led government saying that NDA has failed on several issues including national security and controlling of inflation. He said that an atmosphere of hatred has been created against the minorities.