Owaisi Slams Modi

Owaisi Slams Modi Over ‘No Discrimination To Minorities’ Remarks

All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) chief Asaduddin Owaisi on Saturday took a swipe at Prime Minister Narendra Modi over his recent on religious minorities in the country during his maiden State visit to the United States.

To a specific question during a joint press briefing alongside US President Joe Biden, PM Modi denied discrimination against religious minorities in India.

However, Owasi, on Saturday, countered PM Modi’s claim saying there were several instances of discrimination against minorities, including the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), which was passed by the Centre.

“The Prime Minister of India took questions for the first time in 9 years and to a specific question, he claimed there was no discrimination against religious minorities in India. As many as 300 churches were burnt in Manipur. Isn’t that discrimination? The CAA was formulated on the basis of discrimination. The BJP has 300 ministers of which there is not a single Muslim. You (BJP) ended the Maulana Azad fellowship. These are examples of discrimination. There is discrimination,” Owaisi told reporters here.

Also invoking former US President Barack Obama’s interview with CNN during PM Modi’s first State to the US, the AIMIM chief said, “When our PM was in the US, former President Barack Obama, in an interview, said the targeting of religious minorities in India was not in the interest of a country, which has been practising democracy for so long. What does this imply?”

Taking a further jibe at PM Modi, Owaisi said, “PM Modi makes tall claims at press conferences abroad but backtracks on them back home in India?”

To a question on measures his government is willing to take to improve the rights of minorities in the country, PM Modi said, “Democracy is India’s spirit, it runs in the veins of its people and they live democracy in their daily lives”.

“We are a democracy and as President Biden said India and America both have democracy in our DNA. Democracy is in our spirit and we live it and it’s written in our Constitution…So no question of discrimination on the grounds of caste, creed or religion arises,” PM Modi said at the joint press conference with President Biden.

He added that his government functions in accordance with the Constitution, which was founded on democratic ideals and principles.

“Democracy is our spirit, it runs in our veins. We live in a democracy and the country’s founding fathers gave it the shape of a Constitution. Our government works in accordance with the Constitution. We have proved that democracy can deliver,” PM Modi said.

“When I say democracy can deliver, there is no scope of discrimination on the basis of caste, creed, religion, or gender. When we talk of democracy, if there are no human values, no humanity, and no human rights, then it is not democracy. And when you talk of democracy, accept democracy and when we live in a democracy, there is no scope for discrimination. We go by the principles of ‘Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas, Sabka Vishwas, Sabka Prayaas’. People, regardless of caste, creed and religion, have access to benefits provided by the government. There is no discrimination on the basis of religion, caste, age, geography,” he added. (ANI)

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Owaisi on atiq killing

Not Scared To Visit UP: Owaisi On Atiq’s Killing

Coming down hard on the BJP government in Uttar Pradesh over the prevailing law and order situation in the wake of the killing of gangster-turned-politician Atiq Ahmed and his brother Ashraf Ahmed in Prayagraj, AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi on Sunday said it was necessary to prevent radicalisation, adding that he was not afraid to visit Uttar Pradesh.

Addressing the mediapersons on Sunday morning, Owaisi said, “I have always been saying that BJP in Uttar Pradesh is not running the government by the rule of law but by the rule of gun. Uttar Pradesh’s BJP government has a role in this. Supreme Court-monitored investigation should be done and a committee should be formed. No officer from Uttar Pradesh should be included in the committee. This was a ‘cold-blooded’ murder.”
He further said, “I am ready to die… Radicalisation needs to be stopped. I will surely visit Uttar Pradesh, I am not scared.
Jab pyaar kiya toh darna kya
(why fear death when you are loved).”

Calling the incident a “cold-blooded murder”, Owaisi added that people who are celebrating this killing are “vultures”.

“How did they (killers) get those weapons?… Why were they raising religious slogans after killing them? What will you call them if not terrorists? Will you call them Patriots? People celebrating this incident are vultures…” he said.

Owaisi said the incident raises a big question about the law and order situation.

The AIMIM chief questioned whether the public will have any faith in the constitution and law and order of the country after this incident.

He said, “We would like to ask the Prime Minister of the country whether you will say anything or not? The Prime Minister says in his speech that ‘meri supari li gayi hai’. Now tell what is happening in the state from where you are the Member of Parliament. Every citizen of India is feeling unsafe and vulnerable after yesterday’s incident.”

Owaisi further demanded Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath’s resignation.

“I demand the resignation of UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and the Supreme Court to form a team and investigate this matter. We also demand all police officers present there should be removed from service,” he said.

“Atiq and his brother were in police custody. He was handcuffed. JSR (Jai Shri Ram) slogans were also raised. The killing of both is the failure of Yogi’s law and order system. Those celebrating encounter raj are also responsible for this murder,” Owaisi added.

Days after Atiq Ahmed’s son Asad was killed in an encounter in Uttar Pradesh’s Jhansi, the gangster-turned-politician and his brother, Ashraf Ahmed, were killed on Saturday while being taken for a medical examination in Prayagraj.

Atiq Ahmed was accused in the 2005 Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) MLA Raju Pal murder case and also in the Umesh Pal murder case which happened in February this year. UP Police, has, so far, arrested a total of 3 shooters in this incident.

In the aftermath of the incident, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath in a late-night meeting instructed the state police officers to be on high alert and ensure law and order are maintained across the state.

“UP CM Yogi Adityanath has instructed Police officers to be on alert, ensure peace, law and order are maintained in the state and the public doesn’t face any trouble,” according to the Chief Minister office’s statement.

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath ordered a high-level inquiry into the matter.

“CM Yogi immediately called a high-level meeting and ordered a high-level inquiry into the whole matter. Chief Minister also gave instructions for the formation of a three-member Judicial Commission (Judicial Inquiry Commission) in the matter,” officials said.

Uttar Pradesh government on Sunday imposed Section 144 of CrPC in all the districts, in the aftermath of Atiq Ahmed, Ashraf Ahmed was shot dead in Prayagraj, officials informed.

Shortly after mafia-turned-politician Atiq Ahmed and his brother Ashraf were shot dead in Prayagraj, former Uttar Pradesh chief minister and Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav on Saturday said crime has reached its peak in the state and the morale of the “criminals” has grown by leaps and bounds.

“Crime has reached its peak in UP and the morale of the criminals is high. When someone can be killed openly despite being surrounded by a security cordon, one can imagine the state of the general public. Due to this (alleged encounter killings), an ambiance of fear is being created among the public. It seems that some people are deliberately creating such an ambiance,” Akhilesh Yadav tweeted. (ANI)

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Centre's Ordinance bill

Centre Erasing Mughal History, China Erasing Our Present: Owaisi

All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) chief Asaduddin Owaisi on Tuesday alleged that the Centre is erasing the past by removing Mughal history from the NCERT syllabus while China is erasing our present. He was referring to China renaming places in Arunachal Pradesh.

“On one side, the Modi government is erasing the Mughals from NCERT syllabus, while on the other side, China, with whom PM Modi was shaking hands at G20 Indonesia meeting, is erasing our present,” Owaisi told a press conference.
Owaisi’s barb comes after China’s Ministry of Civil Affairs came up with the names of 11 places in Arunachal Pradesh, which it referred to as “Zangnan, the southern part of Tibet.”

Sharpening his attack further, Owaisi said, “This is happening because China knows that the country’s Prime Minister will not take its name, secondly this government does not speak facts, thirdly their [the government’s] response is weak.”

“Based on these three things, China is erasing our present and the government is erasing the Mughals (history),” he reiterated.

However, while responding to China’s attempt of renaming names, the Ministry of External Affairs official spokesperson Arindam Bagchi on Tuesday asserted that Arunachal Pradesh will always be an integral part of India.

“India has outrightly rejected China’s attempt to rename places of Arunachal Pradesh,” Arindam Bagchi said.

In response to media queries regarding China renaming some places in Arunachal Pradesh, Arindam Bagchi in a statement said, “We have seen such reports. This is not the first time China has made such an attempt. We reject this outright.”

He further said, “Arunachal Pradesh is, has been, and will always be an integral and inalienable part of India. Attempts to assign invented names will not alter this reality.”

China released names of 11 places in Arunachal Pradesh in Chinese characters, Tibetan and pinyin according to the rules on geographical names issued by the State Council, China’s cabinet, Global Times reported.

The ministry announced the names of 11 places on Sunday and also gave precise coordinates, including two residential areas, five mountain peaks, two rivers and two other areas. China’s Ministry of Civil Affairs also listed the category of places’ names and their subordinate administrative districts, as per the news report.

According to a Global Times report, this is the third batch of geographical names announced by the ministry in Arunachal Pradesh. As per the news report, the first batch of the standardized names of six places was issued in 2017, and the second batch of 15 places was released in 2021.

Earlier, in December last year, the Indian government said that it has seen reports of China attempting to rename some places in Arunachal Pradesh “in its own language” and asserted that the border state has been and will always be an integral part of India.”

In response to a media query on reports that China has renamed some places in Arunachal Pradesh in its own language, Ministry of External Affairs Spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said China had also sought to assign such names in April 2017.

“We have seen such reports. This is not the first time China has attempted such a renaming of places in the state of Arunachal Pradesh. China had also sought to assign such names in April 2017,” Bagchi said.

“Arunachal Pradesh has always been, and will always be an integral part of India. Assigning invented names to places in Arunachal Pradesh does not alter this fact,” he added. (ANI)

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Centre's Ordinance bill

BJP Will Lose Telangana Polls 2023: Owaisi

AIMIM MP Asaduddin Owaisi on Thursday alleged that the Uttar Pradesh government is running the administration with a bulldozer and not Constitution.

While talking to ANI, Owaisi said, ” Those doing ‘bulldozer politics’ in UP have taken the lives of a mother-daughter. They want to run the govt with a bulldozer, not Constitution. They will not gain anything politically by doing all this.
On being asked about Telangana BJP Chief Bandi Sanjay’s Taj Mahal remark, he stated, “the BJP will fail in the Telangana Assembly polls in 2023.”

On February 16, Bandi said, “Owaisi says he is so happy as the Secretariat looks like the Taj Mahal. Taj Mahal is a tomb which means the Secretariat looks like a tomb to Owaisi. KCR is building Secretariat like the Taj Mahal to see the happiness in the eyes of Owaisi.” (ANI)

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Owaisi Slams Modi

Shraddha Murder Case Is Not About Love Jihad: Owaisi

Citing the bone-chilling Shraddha Walkar murder case, All India Majlis-E-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) chief Asaduddin Owaisi on Thursday called out the Bharatiya Jantiya Party (BJP) for giving the issue a “religious angle” and said that the incident is not about “love jihad.”

The All India Majlis-E-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) chief Asaduddin Owaisi said that BJP politics over this is completely wrong.
“BJP politics over this is completely wrong. It’s not an issue of love jihad but of exploitation and abuse against a woman and that is how it should be viewed and condemned,” Owaisi said.

Recalling the Azamgarh incident where a man murdered his wife and kept her in a suitcase, the AIMIM chief said that such incidents are saddening, should not be politicised and given a Hindu-Muslim angle.

Owaisi took a dig at Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma for giving the incident a religious angle while campaigning in Delhi.

Earlier on November 20, CM Sarma said that India needs a Uniform Civil Code and a law against ‘love jihad’.

During the roadshow in Delhi ahead of the Municipal Corporation of Delhi elections, the Assam Chief Minister said “India does not need a person like Aaftab (Shraddha murder case accused) but a person like Lord Ram, a leader like Prime Minister Narendra Modi.”

On his party contesting only 13 seats in the Gujarat assembly polls, Owaisi said that we trust the people and constitution of the country, and our fight will strengthen Indian democracy.

“We do not need permission from any other party to fight elections, it is our right. We trust the people and constitution of the country, our fight will strengthen Indian democracy,” he said while talking to ANI. (ANI)

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Weekly Update: Mandir Politics In UP; Kisan Morcha Aasabad; Theatre At Mother Of Parliaments

UP Elections: GDM Not GDP Growth

Asaduddin Owaisi, the leader of AIMIM has accused both BJP leader Yogi Adityanath and the SP leader Yadav of competing to be ‘greater Hindu’ ahead of the UP elections. Both Yogiji and Yadav ji have been trying to convince voters that they will build bigger Mandirs and are the real protectors of Hinduism. Yogi of course uses the Babri Masjid-Ayodhya claims to fame. To out do him, Yadav has inaugurated a Lord Parshuram Mandir in Lucknow on the banks of Purvanchal Expressway.

The temple was built by UP’s Samajwadi Party leader Santosh Panday. Not to be outdone, BJP responded the next day with its Deputy Chief Minister of UP, Brijesh Pathak, unveiling the statue of Lord Parshuram at the Hasoveer Temple.

Temple politics is big in this largest of Indian states. The BJP took lead when its ‘base’ the RSS demolished Babri Masjid and started building Ram Janam Bhoomi temple in Ayodhya with the  Indian Prime Minister, Narendra Modi having laid the main foundation stone on 5th August 2020.

Seeing that UP is more interested in Mandirs than food security, jobs or housing, Yadav revised his manifesto and put building an entire city after Lord Vishnu as one of his election pledges. So not only one temple to Lord Vishnu, but an entire city in his honour. The city will no doubt have Vishnu City Council, Vishnu City Football stadium, Vishnu city General Hospital, Vishnu City High Secondary School, Vishnu City Police Station, Vishnu City market and all other Lord Vishnu landmarks and institutions that cities have.

Meanwhile BJP has made rebuilding Mathura along the lines of Ayodhya as one of its key manifesto pledges.  While Yadav has refrained from attacking Muslims in UP, Yogi Adityanath has not been shy of this. The BJP has been branding Akhilesh Yadav as pro Muslim and Yogi has been raking up history of firing on karsewaks in the 1990s by the regime of Yadav’s father, Mulayam Singh Yadav, when he was CM.

Owaisi, the leader of All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Musalimeen, was quick to pick this up and made the rhetorical statement that both Yadav and Yogi are in competition about who is a greater Hindu. It’s a tough one coming from a man who has been competing to become the greatest Muslim and therefor represent Muslims in India.

Unemployment, price rises, farmer’s issues, polarisation and development all seem to be taking a bit of a back seat. UP is famous for caste politics but the smaller caste groups seem to be engulfed by Uttar Pradesh obsession with GDM, that is Gross Domestic Mandirs than GDP, Gross Domestic Product index.

At this rate the main competition between states in future may not be who feeds the most mouths, has best education system or most peaceful state, but which state has the most mandirs. One for budding economists to watch and make a name.

Kisan Morcha Aasabad

The Samyukta Kisan Morcha has sent a memorandum to the President of India charging that the Kisans have been betrayed by the Government that had given assurances on six outstanding issues. The Morcha leaders, the ones still left standing after some have gone on to fight elections in Punjab, feel a bit let down by Modiji.

Why they expected the assurances to be kept is a wonder. Before he became Prime Minister, Modi had promised gravity defying promises. They included creating 2,00,00,000 jobs a year, a shelter for everyone and bring back black money. Every Indian was to get ₹15 lakh in their bank account. Farmers’ income were going to double.

So far, a few lakh jobs have materialised since 2014, somewhere in lakhs rather than crores. Shelter is still nature’s blue sky interrupted by smog over many heads. And bank accounts have yet to start being fed any proper money. Black money is nestling where it is and grown with interest and further investments. Modi’s policies made farmers saw a threat to their meagre income and they decided to protest.

Kisan memorandum complains that the Modi Government had promised to withdraw all cases against farmers with immediate effect. Yet no action has taken place. The Union Government is saying it is waiting for state governments to sort out paperwork. Farmers are still getting summons. The memorandum complains that the Union Government hasn’t even written to state Governments.

A committee to ensure MSP was to be formed. However no committee has yet even been contemplated let alone formed.

Moreover, the Government is moving ahead with the Free Trade Agreement with Australia that will threaten the existence of dairy farmers.

Modi has a history. In 2015, he gave a promise to the Sikhs in London that all political prisoners will be released immediately. Seven years later, quite a few still remain in prisons, waiting for this state government or that state government to finish its paper work.

Paper work is one of India’s great political tool. In the age of internet and online Adhaar Card technology, the bureaucrats can still bring anything to stone-age speed with ‘paper work’.

Yet despite all broken promises, Prime Minister Modi has maintained his popularity. It is an art, a gift, that has served the BJP well. It is what brought the Kisan Morcha to end. He has made the promise, but keeping that is for another ‘yug’, if that ever comes around. Yugs are in millions of years.

The Farmer leaders have splintered. The morcha got the laws repealed. Yet like one of those horror movies where the undead arise again, the laws are likely to come back in another form. One can sympathise with the farmers and hope this time the Modi Government will actually keep its promises. They live in hope –aas.

Theatre At Mother Of Parliaments

One of the interesting facet of the international community of States is that there is always some leader some where providing enough eccentric or maverick behaviour to keep the headlines running, journalists in jobs and the world entertained. From Berlusconi’s Bunga Bunga parties, Kim Jung Un’s pointless Missiles hitting whales in Oceans and Trump’s anti vax tirades, the world has some leader somewhere hogging the media. Now it is Britain’s Boris Johnson who is providing the political entertainment.

Britain’s Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, is a man who likes reckless challenges. During Covid lockdowns when he was going on TV to tell the rest of Britons to stay at home, not to visit relatives or friends, not to have any parties etc, he was busy doing precisely the opposite. There were parties galore at 10 Downing Street.

Caught out or rather outed by his ex-advisor Dominic Cummings, Johnson faced a huge backlash in the media and from MPs from his own party, the Conservatives. But Britain is old hand at managing accusations, a trick learnt by Indian Government too. It set an enquiry or a committee.

The first person to lead the enquiry had also been involved in a party. So he was replaced by another civil servant called Sue Gray. She has finished her enquiry but the British Police, more precisely Scotland Yard, whose Chief owes her continuing job to Johnson Government, has delayed publication by saying it has to ‘investigate’ some of the law breaking. Police investigations, as anyone knows, can also by Jugo Yug (eternal)

Meanwhile the people, now used to Instagram attention spans, are getting fed up with the delays and want to move on. That is what is happening.

Johnson has been given a lifeline by Putin. Putin has amassed forces at the borders of Ukraine. Johnson knows that Brits like wars or pretend they are still a world force to be reckoned with. So Johnson now bellows threats at Putin. Putin must be amused at these juvenile threats and has even given an audience to Johnson to add to the charade of Britain’s comic Global British Power.

In the meantime, the mother of Parliaments, Westminster, seems to be in a state of ethical dementia as MPs from Conservative party up hold the ‘highest’ standards by admitting openly that their leader is a pathological liar but they are still examining whether there are grounds to  remove him!

A Better Leader than Akhilesh Yadav

‘Polarisation And Pandemic Will Dominate UP Elections’

Danial Faraz, 26, a lecturer in Uttar Pradesh, considers Yogi a better leader than Akhilesh Yadav and warns against hate-mongers like Waseem Rizvi (aka Jitendra N Tyagi)

What a time to be voting in! In the middle of the pandemic. The virus has kept everyone on their toes, and depending on the severity of the Omicron variant, the number of people attending political rallies can go up and down. Which is to say that the situation and its handling by leaders might play an important role in deciding which way the wind blows.

So we will have to take each month as it comes until elections are due in India’s most populous state. After the virus, it is polarisation that can sway the votes, and polarising people is something that BJP and its leaders know how to do really well. One would have thought that after the Ram Mandir Bhoomi Poojan in August 2019, there would be no more issues on which people could be polarised, but that is not the case. Polarisation continues and people give in.

If you were to ask me whose tenure I found better between Akhilesh Yadav & Yogi Adityanath as CM, as an individual, I would say Yogi Adityanath. Even though Akhilesh Yadav started the Laptop Distribution Scheme for the youth and the Dial 100 scheme, there were many things that were left to be desired.

ALSO READ: BJP Has Done Good Work In UP, But Polarised Society Too

The Muzaffarnagar riot took place under his watch and people were not brought to task. I feel Akhilesh Yadav has become greedy for power like many others and forgotten to carve his own separate way. There was a lot of biradariwad (nepotism). Yadavs were preferred over efficient people in the administration. I don’t know how his alliances with the smaller parties or independent candidates will work, but he needs to step up his presence.

Faraz considers Asaduddin Owaisi (right) a strong contestant in UP elections

Under Yogi Adityanath, the crime rate has definitely come down. If we don’t go into the means used to bring the crime rate down, then we can say that the lowering of crime rate has proved beneficial to many. One work of Yogi Adityanath government that I really like is the Scholarship Schemes for graduates where 60% marks is the set criteria for receiving aid and students have been receiving them consistently for the past 4.5 years.

I am not scared of living in UP, himmat se kam lena chahiye. Take life each day as it comes. I believe in the Indian Constitution and also believe that a good leader is one who teaches us the Constitution (as in our rights and duties) better.

I feel Asaduddin Owaisi (AIMIM) is the right leader. Many people think he is a polarising figure as well, but I don’t believe that to be true. Just because he takes care of the Muslim community doesn’t mean he doesn’t care for Hindus. There are Hindus in his party. If his party’s results in Bihar elections are anything to go by (a nearly 25% success rates) then he should be able to make headway in UP as well. Many people think he is an outsider and would not have an understanding of local issues, but I believe deep down our issues are more or less the same, given that we are all humans.

It is leaders like Waseem Rizvi aka Jitendra Narayan Singh Tyagi who do major harm to the whole political landscape. People like him are mere opportunists, ready to go to any length to remain relevant, and the youth needs to be especially weary of turncoat leaders.

I believe youngsters should give weight to the party leader, but also take note of what kind of work their local leader has done. One should give importance to individuals over party. Choose a leader who is good for you.