E-Paper
As bulldozers raze down ex-JNU student’s home, Owaisi has a question for Yogi govt
The Adityanath government has been facing heat from the opposition parties over the fresh demolition drive launched in the state. So far, arrested over 300 people from eight districts in the state in connection with Friday's violence.
Asaduddin Owaisi, chief of the All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM), on Sunday reminded the Yogi Adityanath-led Uttar Pradesh government about people who have been accused of serious crimes, but had their houses safe, while a vocal Muslim’s home is being brought down.
The Hyderabad MP’s statement came in the wake of the UP administration launching a “bulldozer drive” following violent protests in parts of the state against remarks on Prophet Mohammad by now-sacked BJP leaders.
Owaisi also expressed his solidarity with former Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) student leader Afreen Fatima whose house was demolished in Prayagraj.”What happened to Modi’s & Yogi’s sympathy for Muslim women?” he wrote in a Twitter post. Her father, Javed Mohammad, has been named as a key conspirator of Friday's violence.
Referring to Ashish Mishra, son of Union minister Ajay Mishra ‘Teni’, who has been accused of running his car over four farmers and a journalist in Uttar Pradesh’s Lakhimpur Kheri few months ago, Owaisi said, “Teni’s son is accused of killing 5 people. SC has cancelled his bail. But his house is safe.”
He also spoke about how controversial priest Yati Narsinghanand, accused of making 'inflammatory' speeches on multiple occasions, and his accomplices are roaming freely, and policemen ‘carrying out custodial torture” are been awarded by the governemnt. However, being a vocal Muslim has become “a crime” under the current regime, he added.
The Adityanath government has been facing heat from the opposition parties over the fresh demolition drive launched in the state.
Raising questions on the legality of the demolitions, Congress MP Shashi Tharoor wrote on Twitter, “Under what law & following what process has this been done? Has UP exempted itself from the Constitution of India?”
Leader of opposition in UP and Samajwadi Party supremo Akhilesh Yadav said that “peaceful protesters are punished by bulldozers without legal investigation”.
So far, arrested over 300 people from eight districts in the state in connection with Friday's violence.
A day ago, the chief minister said that while no action will be taken on the house of poor people, bulldozers will continue to crush “criminals and mafia”. Adityanath also directed officials to take "strictest" action against those responsible for the violence.
