Expanding his wings, All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) MP Asaduddin Owaisi has taken the stage on Thursday to address a gathering of “poor and downtrodden” in Faizabad for Bikapur bypoll to be held on 13 February.
In a rally, the slogan “Dekho Dekho Kaun Aaya, Sher Aaya, Sher Aaya” rent the air at the venue. Significantly, this is the first time Owaisi has been given permission to hold a rally in Uttar Pradesh. “My focus will be on Samajwadi Party, which has betrayed both Dalits and Muslims,” said the AIMIM chief, showing his intention to take SP in next year assembly poll.
Owaisi’s party had made it clear when it declared Pradeep Kumar Kori, a Dalit, as its Bikapur candidate for the upcoming bypolls.
When asked about fielding a Dalit candidate from a general seat, the AIMIM MP said: “Dr Ambedkar had the full support of Muslims when he contested polls. Both sections have now been deprived of their rights. The SP gave riots to Muslims and is now silent on the death of Dalit research scholar Rohith Vemula of Hyderabad and other Dalit issues,” he said.
Owaisi, in his speech, invoked Ambedkar, Rohit Vemula and Dadri incident in an attempt foster unity between the Dalit and Muslim communities. He announced that his work against Akhilesh Yadav government in Uttar Pradesh has now formally begun to finish SP politically. Owaisi, however, did not mention the BSP or Mayawati during his 35-minute speech at Eidgah ground in Bhadarsa, amidst an impressive gathering. Bhadarsa, a town nearly 25 kilometers from Faizabad, had witnessed communal riots in 2010. Owaisi made SP and BJP the target of his speech.
“Even the soul of Akhlaq is asking you to question the perpetrators of crime. I met Akhlaq’s mother, she too asked me that no other son should die. Strangely Akhilesh Yadav could not find time to reach Dadri fearing that he may lose his chair by visiting Noida,” he added.
From the stage, he also said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi should not think of sending forces to fight the ISIS as it is not India’s war.
“Suddenly they said that the ISIS is rampant in India. But they should know that Indian Muslims have nothing to do with ISIS. Modi ji should not think of sending forces to fight the ISIS,” he said.
