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Asaduddin Owaisi fumes over Bareilly unrest: Can say 'I love Modi' but not 'I love Muhammad' in India
Amid tensions in Bareilly, Asaduddin Owaisi questioned why someone saying 'I love Muhammad' is frowned upon, but urged people to not take into their own hands.
AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi on Thursday claimed that it was easier for someone to say "I love Modi", but not "I love Muhammad" in India. His remarks come as Uttar Pradesh's Bareilly remains tense since a protest over "I Love Muhammad" posters row turned violent last week.
The internet was suspended across four districts in the Bareilly division, and a massive security deployment was seen on the streets on Thursday in light of Dussehra festivities and the scheduled Friday prayers.
Amid ongoing tensions in Bareilly, Owaisi questioned why someone saying 'I love Muhammad' is frowned upon, but also urged people to not take into their own hands. "In this country, one can say 'I love Modi' but not 'I love Mohammad'. Where are you taking this nation? If someone says 'I love Modi', the media also becomes happy. If someone says 'I love Mohammad', then that is objected to. If I am a Muslim, it is because of Muhammad," Owaisi said during a speech in Hyderabad.
Owaisi also cited some clips alleging police lathi-charged on people and some shopkeepers showered flowers on them. He emphasized that the police remain accountable only to those in power, and to no one else.
"No one was named Mohammad other than the Prophet Mohammad. If you install his posters, you have to respect them... I want to ask the government why they are making so many laws, and what is happening?" Owaisi asked.
Over 2,000 protestors gathered outside a mosque in Bareilly after Friday prayers last week to protest the cancellation of a proposed protest over the “I Love Muhammad” poster row. Protestors hurled stones, police personnel were injured and people were lathi-charged upon. At least 81 arrests have been made over the violence so far.
The protests, called by Maulana Tauqeer Raza Khan, stemmed from an FIR filed in Kanpur on September 9 regarding the alleged installation of “I Love Muhammad” boards on a public road during a Barawafat procession.
Owaisi had earlier reacted to the row over the posters in Kanpur questioning what was "anti-national" in putting them up. “If there is an ‘I Love Mahadev’ group then what is the problem? What is anti-national here? What sort of violence does this promote? If the word is ‘love’ then why is anyone having a problem?," Owaisi had said during a speech in Bihar's Purnea last week.
A Muslim’s faith is not complete until he loves Prophet Muhammad more than everything else in the world. What message are you sending to the world by objecting to this?” he has asked.
Meanwhile the senior most cleric of the Ala Hazrat Dargah in Bareilly has appealed Muslims to return home peacefully after concluding their Friday prayers. PAC and RAF personnel are deployed on roads and drones are in the air as the situation in Bareilly remains tense.
(With PTI/ANI inputs)
