Probe all blasts since 1992, says Asaduddin Owaisi

Hyderabad  : MIM president Asaduddin Owaisi has demanded a probe into all bomb blasts in India following the demolition of the Babri Masjid in December 1992.

Saying he suspected the involvement of Hindutva forces, the Hyderabad MP referred to Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde’s statement that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) were spreading terrorism in the country.

Addressing a massive public meeting on the occasion of Milad-un-Nabi early Friday, he attacked BJP leader L.K. Advani for meeting Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to defend Pragya Thakur and other accused in bomb cases.

The Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen chief alleged that the BJP and the RSS were targeting Shinde as he was a Dalit. He said his party was ready to work for unity among Muslims and Dalits.

“I am looking forward to the day when we will have leaders like Mayawati and Mulayam Singh in Andhra Pradesh. We will work with them,” he said.

Thousands attended the meeting at the MIM headquarters which continued till about 3.30 a.m.

Owaisi clarified that his party was not against Hindus or Hinduism but against Hindutva forces and the Sangh Parivar.

He accused the Congress government in Andhra Pradesh of targeting him, his younger brother Akbaruddin Owaisi and other MIM leaders due to personal vendetta. He vowed to defeat Congress in the next elections.

Owaisi accused the government of adopting double standards while dealing with the alleged provocative speeches.

“You have charged Akbar Owaisi with sedition but not Swami (Kamlananda Bharati). You did not even oppose Swami’s bail. You never arrested Praveen Togadia (booked for making provocative remarks in Hyderabad),” he said.

Akbar Owaisi, lodged in a jail in Adilabad, has been charged with sedition, waging war against the nation and promoting enmity between people.

Asad Owaisi said Akbar was a political prisoner and accused the government of harassing him and playing with his life by making him travel from one town to another despite ill-health.

The MIM chief, released from jail Thursday in a seven-year-old case in Medak district, said they would not be cowed by criminal cases.

Photo  : AFP