AIMIM leader's "15 crore Muslims …" remark triggers backlash from BJP

Kalaburagi: Amid protests against the CAA, a video has gone viral on social media where AIMIM leader Waris Pathan is allegedly saying that 15 crore Muslims can prove to be heavy on the other 100 crore. This has triggered a backlash from the BJP which said such threats do not work in new India.

Pathan purportedly made these comments while addressing an anti-Citizenship Amendment Act rally at Kalaburagi on February 16.

“We have to move together. We have to take Azadi (freedom), things that we don’t get by asking, we have to take it by force, remember it,” the All India Majlis-e-Ittehad-ul-Muslimeen (AIMIM) leader can be purportedly heard saying in Hindi.

“Now time has come, we are told that we have sent our mothers and sisters in the front and were sitting covered in blanket… Only our lionesses have come out and you are already sweating. Understand what will happen if we come together. (We may be) 15 crore, but are heavy on 100 (crore), remember it,” he is heard saying.

Pathan is said to be referring to the criticism against women, who are protesting against the CAA at Shaheen Bagh in Delhi.

Hitting out at Waris Pathan, BJP’s Karnataka unit said such threats do not work in new India.

“Hiding behind children and women, legends are seeking “Azadi”. What more Azadi do they want? Aren’t they enjoying every kind of Azadi since 1947? Waris Pathan and other leaders of AIMIM should come out of their Aurangzeb’s World. These threats don’t work in #NewIndia,” it tweeted.