Owaisi scoffs at PM’s ‘self-reliant’ claims

Asaduddin Owaisi, All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) president, said India had started accepting foreign aid after 17 years. A total of 17 foreign countries were providing aid to India, he said adding that it proved that the claims of 'self-reliant Bharat' by Prime Minister Narendra Modi were false.

Owaisi, in his online address on Youm-ulQuran, said although the Indian SARS-CoV-2 Genomics Consortium (INSACOG) had already warned the government in March about the possible surge of the second wave of Covid19, the government failed to chalk out a plan to tackle the situation, resulting in large number of people succumbing to the virus. In India, daily 3,500 people were dying due to Covid-19 as per official records, while real figures were seven times more, the Hyderabad MP added.

He said the country had only 1,224 oxygen tankers with a cumulative capacity of 16,372 tonnes. If all of these tankers run and turnaround time was six days, then the daily supply would be 2,788 tonnes, which would not be sufficient for Delhi and Karnataka,

he said. “Five ‘Oxygen Express’ trains are being plied which transport 230 tonnes a day and this quantity is sufficient for Gujarat for only four hours," he said and asked the supporters of Modi why the government did not enhance the oxygen generating capacity, while it got sufficient downtime.

Owaisi claimed that only two per cent of citizens have been vaccinated so far. Scientists had advised that at least 20 crore people should be given vaccine per month, but the government allotted 50 per cent production of vaccine to the private sector, he said.

He appealed to the Muslims to follow Covid protocols while celebrating the festival and avoid crowds. He also appealed to devotees perform Id prayers in local masjids instead of idgahs.