Hyderabad MP Asaduddin Owaisi ripped into Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his government over the attempted attack by lawyer Rakesh Kishore on Chief Justice of India BR Gavai, questioning them over lack of action against Kishore, suggesting bias based on religion.
“If his name was not Rakesh Kishore, and if it was Asad, what would the police do? BJP people would say, ‘Pick him up!’, 'he came from a neighboring country', ‘(Pakistan's spy agency) ISI!’ — they'd open all fronts against that person,” Owaisi said in a speech shared on X by his party AIMIM.
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He contrasted the “shamelessness” of Rakesh Kishore with how the police took action against Muslims protesting the removal of an ‘I Love Muhammad’ banner in UP's Bareilly recently.
{{/usCountry}}He contrasted the “shamelessness” of Rakesh Kishore with how the police took action against Muslims protesting the removal of an ‘I Love Muhammad’ banner in UP's Bareilly recently.
{{/usCountry}}Rakesh Kishore also mentioned Bareilly in his list of grouses against the CJI, saying the judge and the SC should not have spoken against “bulldozer justice” by CM Yogi Adityanath.
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Owaisi reminded the gathering that Rakesh Kishore raised the slogan “Sanatan ka apmaan, nahin sahega Hindustan” (India will not tolerate insult to Sanatan Dharma or Hinduism).
Kishore has told media channels that he was hurt by a recent remark by the CJI while hearing a case about an idol of Hindu god Lord Vishnu. The CJI had already clarified he meant no disrespect in his oral observation.
Also read | From ‘Yogi's bulldozer’ to ‘Dalit, how?’: Lawyer Rakesh Kishore who tried to hit Chief Justice lists issues
“Tell me, Modi ji, aren't your government and your policy responsible? These are people whom your government has empowered,” Owaisi said. He said the Modi government and BJP had “injected poison into such people's hearts”.
“Even now, this Rakesh Kishore says that he does not care about anything. Prime Minister, the Delhi Police comes under you. And you just give one statement, something like 'this was very wrong',” he added.
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Owaisi stressed that even when the CJI had chosen to not file a case, PM Modi should have initiated legal action and not stopped at a condemnation of the incident.
He underlined that BR Gavai is only the second CJI who is a Dalit, and the first from the Buddhist faith. “I want to give a message to our Dalit brothers, to those who follow the Ambedkarite ideology; to those who believe in Baba Saheb Ambedkar and the Constitution” he further said, speaking purportedly in poll-bound Bihar.
Also read | ‘Has angered every Indian’: PM Modi speaks to CJI, condemns attack on him over Hindu idol remark
Owaisi also contrasted the lack of action against Kishore with the legal case over the 2023 incident when two young young men jumped into Parliament and released smoke purportedly in protest against joblessness. “The UAPA (Unlawful Activities [Prevention] Act) was imposed on them. You should have imposed the UAPA on this Rakesh Kishore. Police can file a complaint suo motu,” the Lok Sabha member, also a lawyer, said.
He further claimed bias against Muslims, saying they had not resorted to such violence despite adverse ruling — referring to judgments allowing the Ram Mandir where Babri mosque was demolished, and criminalising tripe talaq. “But those who believe in the Constitution, they said that 'we are not happy with the court's decision'. But did we lift a shoe at anyone by taking the name of religion?”
PM Modi has condemned the attack bid on the CJI and said “every Indian is angered” over it.