‘Mukhtar Ansari is a Martyr, He Was Poisoned in Jail’, Asaduddin Owaisi Stokes Controversy

Varanasi: All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) president Asaduddin Owaisi stoked a controversy by terming the late convicted gangster-turned-politician Mukhtar Ansari a “martyr”. Last month, Ansari died due to cardiac arrest in Banda jail. 

Owaisi was addressing a rally at Prime Minister Narendra Modi's constituency of Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh, where he alleged that Ansari was poisoned. He added that it was the responsibility of the UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath-led BJP government to protect the convicted gangster. 

"Mukhtar Ansari was incarcerated, and he was killed by giving poison. He is a martyr; don’t call him dead. It was the responsibility of the BJP govt to protect him,” Owaisi was quoted as saying at the rally.

Recalling the assassination of another gangster-turned-politician, Atiq Ahmad and his brother Ashraf, he said, “It was the responsibility of the BJP government to save the people, but it failed. Nature gets angry with the one who commits atrocities.”

Atiq Ahmad and his brother Ashraf were shot dead by three men posing as journalists in April 2024 while they were being taken for a medical examination in Prayagraj.

Slamming the BJP government and Akhilesh Yadav's Samajwadi Party, Owaisi said that Varanasi does not belong to PM Modi, but to Ustad Bismillah Khan, Tulsidas and Ganga-Jamuni tehzeeb.

"I want to tell PM Modi and Akhilesh Yadav that PDM (Picchada, Dalit and Musalman) will not be limited to the limits of Parliament only. This will be the beginning of PDM in the coming Parliament and also in the legislativel assembly elections," he added.

The postmortem report of Ansari had earlier stated that the cause for his death was "myocardial refraction" or heart attack. Ansari's family, however, had been standing firm that he was subjected to slow poisoning in jail.

Meanwhile, the viscera report of the deceased gangster showed that no poison was detected in the viscera of Ansari, conflicting with the allegations of his family members.