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Dear Javed Akhtar, good luck pandering to fascism: Asad Zaidi

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javed-akhtar

I don’t care to know whether saying ‘Bharat mata ki jai’ is my duty or not but it is my right

(Javed Akhtar in his final speech in Rajya Sabha)
He then chanted ‘Bharat mata ki jai’ a number of times.

* * *

Same day Waris Pathan, MLA, was suspended from the Maharashtra Assembly for refusing to chant ‘Bharat mata ki jai’. He apparently did not have the right to not chant it.

* * *

For those who remember the period when the Salim-Javed team ruled the roost in Bombay, Javed Akhtar’s latest rhetorical flourish in the Parliament comes as no surprise. One can only quote ill-fated Mughal ruler Jahandar Shah’s immortal line:

pahunchī vahīn pe khāk jahān kā khamīr thā

Dust rose, flew to other places, to finally settle back at the place of its origin

The loutish duo of Salim-Javed was primarily responsible for constructing the undemocratic ‘angry young man’ avenger figure and the subsequent rise of proto-Fascist cinema in India in the 1970s and the 80s. For the twosome, who still remain unrepentant, there could be no forgiveness. This screenplay and dialogue writing team cynically exploited the political disillusionment and mass social discontent to create a popular demand for authoritarian and extra-constitutional solutions for the problems of the day. Taking the law into one’s own hands and wreaking vengeance were the main characteristics of their hero figures. Theirs was a cinema tailored to fit the needs of Sanjay Gandhi’s brand of politics. It took more than one and a half decade for their stranglehold over the Hindi film to loosen. In the meantime the team broke up. Javed, clearly cleverer of the two, carried on along the same line for some time, looking for an opportunity for a make-over.

The made-up secular icon, litfest fixture, re-formed messenger of peace and amity, and an all-purpose son of India we know today as Javed Akhtar belongs to this late period.

But another transformation may soon be coming. As Allama Iqbal said:

Sitāron se āge jahān aur bhī hain abhī ishq ke imtihān aur bhī hain

Other worlds exist beyond the stars—
More tests of love are still to come.

Asad Zaidi is a Hindi poet. He runs Three Essays Collective, an independent publishing house.

Owaisi brothers booked, three held for attacks

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Asaduddin Owaisi

Hyderabad: Police on Wednesday booked MIM leaders Asaduddin Owaisi and his brother Akbaruddin Owaisi and arrested three activists of the party for attacks on their political rivals during elections to the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) on Tuesday.

Hyderabad police have booked Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (MIM) chief and Hyderabad Lok Sabha member Asaduddin Owaisi and his brother and party leader Akbaruddin Owaisi in three different incidents of attacks on political rivals.

The Owaisi brothers and others were booked for unlawful assembly, voluntarily causing hurt, wrongful restraint, criminal intimidation and other charges.

Police said three people were arrested based on the video footage of the incident that occurred near Mirchowk police station in the old city wherein the Congress party’s Telangana unit president Uttam Kumar Reddy and senior leader and legislator Mohammed Ali Shabbir were attacked.

Asaduddin Owaisi with his followers had come to the police station, taking objection to the presence of the Congress leaders, who were there to seek release of their party activist Mohammed Ghouse.

Deputy Commissioner of Police V. Satyanarayana said they were questioning the accused, who will be produced before a court on Thursday.

He said Asaduddin Owaisi was an accused in the case, which has been registered on a complaint by Congress leaders.

Police took action after analysing the evidence and screening the video footage.

The DCP said two teams were working to conduct the investigation and gather evidence.

Police also booked Akbaruddin Owaisi, MIM leader in the Telangana assembly, for the alleged attack on a candidate of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Jangammet division, also in the old city.

The police officer said an investigation was taken up after BJP candidate Mahender lodged a complaint against the MLA at Chandrayangutta police station.

Another case was booked against Asaduddin Owaisi on a complaint by Mubashiruddin Khurram, a reporter of Urdu daily Siasat, who was injured in an attack by MIM workers.

Meanwhile, another MIM legislator Ahmed Balala, who was arrested on Tuesday for the attack on the son of Telangana Deputy Chief Minister Mahmood Ali, was released on bail by a city court.

A separate case against Balala was booked on a complaint by Majlis Bachao Tehreek (MBT) leader Amjadullah Khan Khalid, who was also injured in an attack.

In another incident in Langar Houz, MIM workers allegedly attacked their rivals belonging to the TDP and the BJP.

Director General of Police Anurag Sharma and Hyderabad Commissioner of Police Mahender Reddy reviewed the cases booked against MIM leaders in connection with various incidents of violence.

The opposition parties have demanded immediate action against MIM leaders for the attacks.

Leaders of Congress, Telugu Desam Party (TDP) and BJP held a meeting to condemn the attacks and seek immediate action.

The delegation led by Leader of Opposition Jana Reddy also met Governor E.S.L. Narasimhan to demand strong action against MIM leaders.

They said since the governor has law and order powers in the joint capital of Hyderabad under section 8 of the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act, he should invoke the same to intervene in the matter as the TRS government is not taking any action.

The Congress party also wrote to Election Commission of India, urging it to derecognise MIM and disqualify Owaisi brothers from contesting elections.

(IANS)

Vote for us if you want to eat beef, says Asaduddin Owaisi

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Asaduddin Owaisi

Hyderabad: A ban on consumption and sale of beef may be imposed in the city if AIMIM was not voted to power in the upcoming elections to Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC), party chief Asaduddin Owaisi claimed on Monday.

“I am not trying to scare you. But, the fact is if we don’t come to power, there may be a scope for ban on beef (in Hyderabad) on pretext of faith,” the All-India Majlis-e- Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) leader said in Hyderabad.

Addressing a public meeting ahead of the February 2 election to the 150-member civic body, the Lok Sabha lawmaker from Hyderabad said such a ban will hit the poor and also beef traders hard as it happened in Maharashtra.

“There is a ban on cow slaughter all over. In Maharashtra, the BJP-led Government brought a law to extend the ban on bulls and bullocks. Even if it (these animals) is ill you cannot slaughter it,” Owaisi said.

Due to this many people, who are earlier dependent on beef trade have lost their livelihood, he said. “If someone else comes to power (in GHMC), it (beef ban) may become a reality.”

It is the poor who cannot afford to eat mutton and they have to depend on beef, the MP added.

AIMIM, a Hyderabad-based party, and Congress shared power in the municipal corporation in the last term.

(Agencies)

FIR against Akbaruddin Owaisi for his speech

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Asaduddin Owaisi

Kishanganj: An FIR was today lodged against All India Majlis-e-Ittehad-ul Muslimeen (AIMIM) legislator Akbaruddin Owaisi by Kishanganj district administration for allegedly making inflammatory speech at an election rally here yesterday.

The police are also probing whether damage to idols at two temples in the town, which were discovered this morning, was a fallout of the speech, Superintendent of Police Rajiv Ranjan said.

Owaisi’s speech, he said, violated provisions of section 144 of Crpc and an FIR has been lodged under sections 153A and 188 of IPC at Kochadhaman police station.

Section 153A deals with promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion, race, place of birth, residence, language and doing acts prejudicial to maintenance of harmony, while section 188 deals with disobedience to order duly promulgated by public servant.

The FIR has been lodged on the basis of magistrate’s report, the SP said. Owaisi had yesterday addressed an election meeting at Sontha haat village under Kochadhaman assembly constituency in Kishanganj district from where AIMIM state unit chief Akhtarul Iman is contesting.

He had allegedly used abusive language against all members of Parliament except his elder brother Asaduddin Owaisi who is AIMIM chief and an MP from Hyderabad. He also allegedly made provocative remarks against BJP leaders.

The police are probing if the damage to idols of goddess Kali in two temples in Nepalgarh locality had any connection to the speech. The SP said idols were found damaged in two adjacent temples this morning and created tension in the town and protests.

District administration sought to maintain peace by talking to people of the two communities, he added.

(PTI)

Dadri mob killing: Owaisi attacks PM, says it was ‘planned murder’ over religion

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owaisi-in-dadri

Dadri: AIMIM leader Asaduddin Owaisi, who visited the family of the man killed here by a mob over rumours that they had consumed beef, today alleged that he was targeted for his religion and questioned the Prime Minister’s “silence”.

Owaisi, who heads the Muslim right wing All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (MIM), met the wife of deceased Iqlakh this morning and alleged that it was pre-planned murder.

“This wasn’t an attack over meat. It was murder over religion to spread politics of hatred of a party. This is a pre-planned, cold-blooded killing. It cannot be an accident.

“This is the thought which is against secularism, it is against the brotherhood of India. It sees Muslims with an eye of suspicion,” the Hyderabad MP said.

Owaisi hit out at Prime Minister Narendra Modi over his “silence” on the issue, saying he should have at least sent his condolences in a tweet if “he believes in pluralism and upholding of law”.

“… we were expecting the PM would have at lease sent condolences to Sartaj (victim’s son) and condemned it. We were expecting that the PM who says ‘sabka saath sabka vikaas’ should have condoled at least with a tweet.”

The AIMIM leader also hit out at Union Minister and local MP Mahesh Sharma who had termed the attack as an “accident”.

“Mahesh Sharma is the Culture Minister of the country and it is unfortunate that the minister who has taken oath on the Constitution doesn’t have the courage and intellectual honesty to condemn the incident unconditionally,” Owaisi said.

“He and his PM say ‘Sabka Saath Sabka Vikaas’, then such incidents happen. These words should be put into practice,” he said.

He also hit out at the Samajwadi government, saying instead of nabbing the attackers it was “conducting forensic test on a piece of meat and treating the victim as accused”.

“They have so much poison in their minds that a person who had died, rather than treating him as a victim, they are treating him as an accused,” he said.
Owaisi demanded that the accused be charged with IPC section related to murder and a time-bound trial be held.

He said that he feared that Samajwadi Party government will let the accused go scot-free “as had happened after Muzaffarnagar riots”.

Iqlakh was beaten to death and his 22-year-old son Danish was critically injured by a 200-strong mob which barged into their house on Monday night following rumours that the family had consumed beef. Cow slaughter is banned in Uttar Pradesh.

(PTI)

AIMIM to contest Bihar elections from Seemanchal: Owaisi

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Asaduddin Owaisi

Hyderabad: All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) today said it will contest the upcoming Bihar State Assembly elections from Seemanchal region.

MIM chief Assaduddin Owaisi said his party will contest the election but will limit itself to Seemanchal region, which comprise mainly four districts – Araria, Purnea, Kishanganj, Katihar.

“We are limited to Seemanchal area of Bihar. We are realistic about our chances of winning. We know our strengths and weaknesses. It is in the interest and justice of Seemanchal region we are contesting elections there,” Owaisi said without disclosing the number of seats his party will contest.

He replied in the negative when asked about the pre-poll alliance with other parties.

“Bihar’s development parameters are bad. But when it comes to Seemacnhal it is worse. That’s why we want the government to set up a regional developmental council under Article 371,” he said.

Owaisi held Congress, BJP, Nitish Kumar and other parties as responsible for the underdevelopment of the region.

When asked about the division of votes when the party contests without any alliance, the MIM leader said the NDA won with great majority even when his party was not in the poll fray in Jammu and Kashmir and local body elections of Rajasthan.

“Did I contest in Delhi elections? Did I contest in J&K elections. Did I contest in Municipal elections of Rajasthan? This is a wrong allegation which has no relevance. So-called secular parties have lost their credibility,” he said.

MIM, which has two seats in the Maharashtra assembly, has appointed Akhtar Imam as president of AIMIM’s Bihar unit.

(Agencies)

I will not go back from Bengaluru: Asaduddin Owaisi

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Asaduddin Owaisi

Bengaluru: Ahead of the BBMP polls scheduled to be held on Saturday, Aug 22, AIMIM supremo Asaduddin Owaisi hit out at the state Congress government for ‘deliberately’ trying to impose restrictions on his entry to Bengaluru city and impeaching his constitutional rights to free movement.

Owaisi said that as a member of parliament, he has constitutional rights to enter any place in the country, and Congress has no rights to stop him entering the city.

He said he and his party are here to stay, and will not go back from Bengaluru. He announced his party’s intention to participate in the next assembly elections in the state.

Earlier on Tuesday Justice A.S. Bopanna had issued the direction while rejecting AIMIM’s plea for a direction to the authorities to grant permission for its public rally that was scheduled for August 11 at Chota Maidan in Shivajinagar.

HC rejects Asaduddin Owaisi’s Bengaluru rally plea ahead of BBMP polls

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Asaduddin Owaisi

Bengaluru: The Karnataka High Court has said the returning officer will have to take inputs from the city police before granting permission to the All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) to organise a rally ahead of the Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike elections.

Justice A.S. Bopanna on Tuesday issued the direction while rejecting AIMIM’s plea for a direction to the authorities to grant permission for its public rally that was scheduled for August 11 at Chota Maidan in Shivajinagar.

A jurisdictional returning officer on August 6 had granted permission to AIMIM to hold the rally at Chota Maidan between noon and 10 p.m. on August 11 on the condition that it should obtain permission from the city police.

The police, however, refused permission on the grounds of participation of AIMIM president Asaduddin Owaisi, who was earlier this year barred from entering the city. The retuning officer, on August 10 passed a fresh order cancelling the conditional permission granted earlier.

Observing that the view of the police on law and order and threat perceptions would be important for the returning officer to decide on granting permission, the court said AIMIM could seek permission from the returning officer, the police under the Karnataka Police Act and from the owners of any other venue.

(Agencies)

Asaduddin Owaisi says Kodnani and others should also get death

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asad-owaisi-on-memon

New Delhi: A political war of words erupted on Thursday over the execution of 1993 Mumbai blast convict Yakub Memon, with a section of opposition leaders speaking against the death sentence.

Congress general secretary Digvijaya Singh fired the first salvo, saying that the BJP- led government should show “similar commitment” in all cases of terror as it showed in the case of Yakub Memon.

“I hope similar commitment of the government and the judiciary would be shown in all cases of terror, irrespective of their caste, creed and religion,” he said in a tweet following Memon’s execution in the Nagpur central jail on Thursday morning.

Party colleague and former union minister Shashi Tharoor said he was “saddened” by Memon’s execution.

“Saddened by news that our government has hanged a human being. State-sponsored killing diminishes us all by reducing us to murderers too,” Tharoor tweeted.

“There is no evidence that death penalty serves as a deterrent, to the contrary in fact. All it does is exact retribution, unworthy of a government,” the Thiruvananthapuram parliamentarian said.

“I’m not commenting on the merits of a specific case; that’s for the Supreme Court to decide. Problem is death penalty in principle and practice,” he added.

Communist Party of India (CPI) leader D Raja, meanwhile, said that the death penalty should be done away with in the country.

“India should say an emphatic no to capital punishment…. It does not mean we do not have sympathy with those (blast victims’) families, but by snatching away one life will not bring back all those lives,” Raja said.

All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen leader and Hyderabad parliamentarian Asaduddin Owaisi said the government should ensure death sentence in all similar cases.

“Death sentence should also be given to Babu Bajrangi, Maya Kodnani, Col. Purohit and Swami Aseemanand,” he said.

While Babu Bajrangi and Maya Kodnani are accused in the Gujarat riots, Col. Purohit and Swami Aseemanand are accused in the Malegaon blast.

The ruling BJP slammed the leaders opposed to the hanging. Tharoor and Digvijaya Singh were forsaken by the Congress as well, which said it was their “personal views”.

Congress spokesperson Randeep Surjewala said the views were that of the leaders concerned and not of the Congress.

Former home secretary and BJP parliamentarian R K Singh said those making such comments did not have national interests on their minds.

“These people don’t think about national interest. Whether he (Yakub) had to be hanged or not was not to be decided by the government but the court, and the president uses his judgment after that…,” he said.

Minister of state for parliamentary affairs, Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi, said justice had been done.

“Justice has been done; this increased the people’s faith in the judicial process. He got two decades to prove his innocence, and he was proven guilty,” he said.

Yakub Abdul Razzak Memon, convicted in the March 12, 1993 Mumbai serial blasts, was hanged at Maharashtra’s Nagpur central jail on Thursday morning.

(IANS)

Modi saved Kodnani, Bajrangi from the noose, Asaduddin Owaisi says

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Asaduddin Owaisi

Hyderabad: AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi alleged that the then Narendra Modi government in Gujarat had asked the prosecution not to press for death sentence of former minister Mayaben Kodnani and Bajrang Dal leader Babu Bajrangi, convicted in 2002 post-Godhra riot case.

The Hyderabad Lok Sabha MP questioned whether those responsible for killing people during riots should get death penalty.

“Kodnani and Babu Bajrangi were convicted by a court which sentenced them to life imprisonment in connection with the killing of 92 persons. The prosecution wanted capital punishment. But Modi, who was then Gujarat chief minister, asked prosecution not to appeal against the ruling (in HC) and let the punishment be life sentence,” the All-India Majlis-e- Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) leader alleged.

“Shouldn’t those who killed 92 persons get death sentence?” Owaisi asked.

He was addressing a public meeting here Saturday night on the occasion of 7th death anniversary of Sultan Salahuddin Owaisi, former president of AIMIM.

During his speech, Asaduddin, who had recently suggested that 1993 Mumbai blasts convict Yakub Memon was awarded capital punishment because of his religion, read out a media report against the death penalty.

“Is it not true that Punjab chief minister Parkash Singh Badal had met then President Pratibha Patil with a mercy petition seeking clemency for Rajoana (assassin of former Punjab CM Beant Singh)?” he said.

Asaduddin challenged the BJP, which shares power in Punjab with Shiromani Akali Dal, to hang the killers of Beant Singh.

The AIMIM leader said Babri Masjid was demolished in 1992 but that case is still dragging on.

(PTI)

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