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Owaisi jibes Assam CM Himanta with ‘ ₹2 ki bheekh’ over his ‘ ₹4 rickshaw fare’ taunt for Miya Muslims
Owaisi further said the constitution has given equal rights to all, as he accused Sarma of "discrimination" against the “Miya Muslims”.
A war of words has broken out between Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma and AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi over the BJP leader's remarks against the Miya Muslims community. Track updates on app-taxi service strike
Owaisi has responded with a ‘ ₹2’ jibe and called Sarma a beggar. “(Sarma) says, ‘if an auto driver is a Miya Muslim, give him less than the actual fare; if the fare is ₹5, then give him ₹4’. Himanta Biswa Sarma, I'm giving you these two rupees, will you take it? I know you're a beggar for two rupees... Should I transfer it to your account?” Owaisi said at a public rally in Nizamabad on Friday.
Owaisi further said the Constitution has given equal rights to all, as he accused Sarma of discrimination against the the Muslim community.
“There should not be any discriminations even if you are the Prime Minister or the Chief Minister. But he says ‘we will do this with Miya, go to Bangladesh to cast votes’. What do you want to do?” Owaisi said.
Row over Assam CM's remarks
Owaisi's tirade comes in response to Sarma's constant attacks on illegal immigration and the use of the term Miya Muslims usually used for Bengali-speaking Muslims in Assam.
Sarma in the past has defended his remarks, saying that he had not coined the term "Miya Muslims" and that it had been in vogue within the community which had migrated from Bangladesh to refer to themselves.
The political slugfest comes ahead of Assembly polls in Assam which are expected in the next few months. As the fight for power intensifies there, Sarma has upped his ante and renewed his pitch for driving out ‘illegal Bangladeshi immigrants’. He said last week that he has started a ‘war’ to to drive them out of the state.
“Miya means Bangladeshi infiltrators, and we have decided to go as far as it takes to send every one of them back from Assam. This is a war and a matter of life and death for us,” Sarma said at a public gathering last week.
On January 27, he urged people in Assam to “go after” members of the Miya community and continue to “disturb” them. “If we don’t do this, the infiltrators will think that the Assamese people are weak. We are doing this for our existence,” he said.
