Owaisi’s remarks trigger controversy; BJP compares him to Jinnah

New Delhi: AIMIM president Asaduddin Owaisi’s remarks at a poll rally cautioning the Uttar Pradesh Police triggered a controversy on Friday with the BJP comparing him to Muhammad Ali Jinnah, even though he clarified that the context of his remarks was deliberately edited out to misrepresent it.

In a series of tweets, All India Majlis-E-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) chief Owaisi shared a video clip that has been widely circulated on social media and said the remarks made by him were in the context of atrocities against Muslims by the state police, which has been edited out of the clip.

In the video clip shared by him, Owaisi is heard saying that Yogi Adityanath will not always be the chief minister and Narendra Modi the prime minister. ”We will not forget the injustice. We will remember this injustice. Allah will destroy you through his strength. Things will change. Who will come to save you then? When Yogi will return to his mutt and Modi will retreat to the mountains, then who will come?” he said.

Owaisi said the edited one-minute clip of his 45-minute speech was being circulated to divert the attention from the alleged hate speeches made at a Dharma Sansad in Haridwar which he alleged as ”genocidal meet”.

”I did not incite violence or give threats. I talked about police atrocities…. I said we will remember these police atrocities. Is this objectionable? Why is it offensive to remember how police have treated Muslims in UP? I asked cops: who will come to save them when Modi-Yogi retire? Indeed, who will? Do they think they’ve lifetime immunity?” Owaisi tweeted while clarifying his position. Taking on Owaisi over his remarks, BJP spokesperson Sudhanshu Trivedi compared him to Jinnah, the founder of Pakistan, and said AIMIM leaders are used to making such mischievous remarks.

”…soul of Jinnah resides in Owaisi,” Trivedi said, adding that the Hyderabad MP’s remarks are similar to that of Jinnah made in 1946, a year before partition, while talking about direct action.

BJP IT cell head Amit Malviya tweeted, ”Owaisi, like (Mughal emperor) Aurangzeb and Jinnah, is the face of civilisational battle that Sanatan Dharma has faced for millennia. Balance of power is the need of the hour.”