Owaisi’s diktat for Pathan: No rallies till further orders

All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) chief Asaduddin Owaisi has ordered party leader Waris Pathan not to interact with media or speak at rallies till further

All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) chief Asaduddin Owaisi has ordered party leader Waris Pathan not to interact with media or speak at rallies till further orders, after his remarks in a speech at Karnataka last week led to a controversy.

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Pathan, a former Byculla legislator, in his speech at Gulbarga had said, “They tell us that we have kept our women at the forefront. I want to tell these people, only the lionesses have come out, and you are already sweating. You can understand the impact if all of us come together. We are just 15 crore, but can be a bigger force than the 100-crore majority,”

The diktat comes after several Muslim outfits complained to Owaisi that Pathan’s statement was acting as a dampener to the on-going campaign against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) and National Register of Citizens (NRC).

After his statement snowballed into a controversy, Pathan released a press release to defend himself.

He said he was quoted out of context. “I, hereby, wish to reiterate that I can never say anything intentionally or unintentionally that hurts the sentiments of any caste, community or gender. I am a proud Indian and I respect the plurality of this country,” said Pathan.

Owaisi has been unhappy with Pathan recently. “Pathan’s controversial statement will portray the whole campaign as a Hindu-Muslim issue and polarise the environment. This has enraged Owaisi,” said an AIMIM leader requesting anonymity.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) on Friday organised a number of protests against Pathan. Some protesters even burnt his effigy.

This is not the first time that AIMIM has kicked up a controversy.

In a 2013 rally of the party in Hyderabad, AIMIM leader Akbaruddin Owaisi had said that if police were removed for 15 minutes “we (Muslims) will finish 100 crore Hindus”.