Hyderabad, Nov 4 (PTI) Citing the victory of Abdul El-Sayed in the Michigan Senate race in the US midterm elections, AIMIM president Asaduddin Owaisi on Wednesday said the “Abdul” in Uttar Pradesh would not bow before anyone but would become a leader.
Owaisi, who has addressed public meetings in poll-bound Uttar Pradesh in recent weeks, said Abdul should no longer spread the carpet for others, indicating that Muslims would have to strengthen their political identity.
“Abdul succeeded as a senator in Michigan. After I spoke, did Abdul become an issue or not? The BJP used to say that Abdul fixes (tyre) punctures. In a democracy, Abdul became a senator. Now, Abdul in UP will not bow down before anyone but become an MLA,” he told reporters.
He criticised the Centre’s stand before the Delhi High Court that a century-old mosque in Krishi Bhawan in the national capital had to be removed. The Union government had told the court that establishing a permanent religious structure within a government office complex was impermissible and incompatible with the “secular” character of government property.
Owaisi said the mosque was built before Delhi became the capital, and that Lutyens’ Delhi was developed around it. Terming the mosque part of the country’s cultural heritage, he said it was a registered Waqf property and that Waqf was its owner.
Attacking the NDA government over the issue, he said it had inaugurated the Central Vista project with a Bhoomi Puja.
“Apparently, secularism is not offended by the use of one faith’s rituals for a public project, but is allergic to a Masjid that has stood there even before 1912, long before Krishi Bhawan was even built,” he said.
On the Opposition’s protests against the SIR and the AIMIM’s participation, he said he had been opposed to the SIR and that the AIMIM had prepared an app to ensure that all genuine voters remained on the electoral rolls.
He asked why the TVK and the DMK of Tamil Nadu were not questioned about skipping the INDIA bloc’s rally at Ramlila Maidan in Delhi while he was asked about his presence.
Asked about media reports that the SIR of electoral rolls had not found a single illegal immigrant in Hyderabad, he asked what would become of the BJP’s allegations that illegal immigrants had found their way into the voters’ lists there.
“Now, what will Amit Shah say? What will the BJP leaders say? You may remember that they had promised to carry out a surgical strike in Hyderabad (against illegal immigrants in electoral rolls). They have dug up a mountain, but not even a mouse has come out of it,” he said.
If the media reports were correct, the “Sangh people” would have to answer, he added.
