Owaisi slams secular parties' 'intellectual dishonesty'; wants BJP tactics challenged

All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) chief Asaduddin Owaisi on Monday slammed the "secular parties" and urged them to stand against Hindutva and "actively challenge" the BJP. He said that the secular parties cannot take anti-Muslim positions on one hand and expect "our undying loyalty to them on the other." The Hyderabad MP said that secular parties' "intellectual dishonesty" will only strengthen Hindutva.

'They'll have to stand against Hindutva'

Owaisi was responding to a media report titled 'The Opposition enables Hindutva' which termed the Opposition parties weak and not good enough to challenge the BJP government. "The collective despondency displayed by the secular parties around 'Bhoomi-pujan' in Ayodhya is an alibi for the lack of political imagination and will of those who claim to champion the politics of secularism," the article stated.

On August 5, Owaisi alleged that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has violated the oath of the office by laying the foundation stone of Ram Temple in Ayodhya. He has taken every opportunity to mire the under-construction Ram Mandir in controversy since the monumental Supreme Court's 2019 verdict.

'I am also equally emotional'

"India is a secular country. Prime Minister has violated the oath of the office by laying the foundation stone of Ram Mandir. This is the day of the defeat of democracy and secularism and success of Hindutva," Owaisi told reporters in Hyderabad.  "The Prime Minister today said he was emotional. I want to say that I am also equally emotional because I believe in coexistence and equality of citizenship. Mr Prime Minister, I am emotional because a mosque stood there for 450 years," he said.

READ | Asaduddin Owaisi lashes out at Centre over diversion of Shramik trains, questions lockdown

Last Wednesday, Prime Minister Modi performed 'bhumi pujan' of Ram temple in Ayodhya. The Hyderabad MP had earlier suggested that Modi should not attend the foundation stone laying ceremony of the Ram Temple as Prime Minister. He said the PM "should say that he will go in his personal capacity and no TV channel should live telecast".

READ | 'Solidarity with the disabled': Asaduddin Owaisi slams proposed amendment to RPwD Act

"I have said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi should not attend that event. Because if he attends that function as the Prime Minister then a message will go in the country that the Prime Minister is supporting people of one faith only," Owaisi said.

READ | Asaduddin Owaisi writes to PM Modi, demands white paper on India-China border situation

"There is no religion of the country. Do India and the Government of India have a religion? He is the Prime Minister of Muslims, Hindus, Dalits, Backwards, Sikhs, Christians, and those also who do not believe in any faith," he had said.

READ | After Rahul Gandhi's jibe, Asaduddin Owaisi seeks details of India-China LAC talks

(With agency inputs)