Hyderabad: “BJP needs to answer as to why their ministers came out in support of those accused,” slammed AIMIM president Asaduddin Owaisi yesterday, referring to the rally in which Jammu and Kashmir government attended in support of the accused in the Kathua case.
Pointing at incidents of offences against girls and women at Indore, Gaya in Bihar and Gorakhpur, Owaisi said justice should be done and accused must be punished which ever religion they belong to. He claimed that his party AIMIM condemns such incidents.
An 8-year-old girl was raped and murdered in Kathua and six of the seven accused were convicted by a court in Pathankot yesterday.
When asked about the arrests of journalists in Uttar Pradesh, the Hyderanbad MP said, “Why do you arrest a journalist? What for? He is doing his job. Just because, Yogi Adityanath (Chief Minister) does not like it, then he uses his police force. He is facing a hate case against him. This clearly shows that the UP government, BJP does not believe in independent journalism. It is attack on journalism.”
Owaisi further claimed that Muslims saved Rahul Gandhi in Wayanad. He pointed out that Rahul lost in Amethi, but won in the Kerala constituency, where nearly 45 per cent of the electorate are Muslims.
Referring to a data of a survey on Lok Sabha elections, Owaisi said Congress and secular parties got the highest votes from Muslim minorities in the name of secularism. The alliance in Uttar Pradesh secured 73 per cent of Muslim vote.
“I am not getting Muslim vote. You are getting Muslim vote. I am only being seen for namesake…. We are saying that it is high time for Muslim community to think where their vote is going. Had regional parties not been there in India, especially in the south, BJP would have swept entire India,” he said.
Hindu vote to BJP grew from 37 per cent in 2014 to 44 per cent this time, while Muslim vote is the same, Owaisi said.