Owaisi questions silence of Nitish on Modi’s remarks

AIMIM president Asaduddin Owaisi on Wednesday challenged Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar to make his stand clear on the controversial remarks against Muslims made recently by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

The Hyderabad MP was addressing an election rally in Kishanganj, where the AIMIM’s Bihar unit chief and MLA Akhtarul Iman is locked in a triangular contest with sitting Congress MP Mohd Javed and Mujahid Alam of JD(U), which is headed by the Chief Minister.

“What has happened to Nitish Kumar? He has not spoken a word on Narendra Modi’s utterances? Has he turned dumb? Is milk curdling inside his mouth (munh mein dahi jam gaya hai),” asked Owaisi. Talking to the media, Owaisi warned “Muslims are the largest minority community in the country. They have a population of nearly 17 crore. Narendra Modi is spreading hatred against them. He has been doing so since 2002 (when communal violence broke out in Gujarat, under Modi’s Chief Ministership). If there are fresh riots in the country, Modi shall be squarely responsible”.

In his election speech, Owaisi accused both the BJP and the Congress of having become “washing machines”.

“Anybody with a corruption taint gets a clean chit no sooner than he aligns with BJP. Similarly, the most rabidly communal elements in BJP become paragons of secularism as soon as they gain entry into the Congress,” alleged the Hyderabad MP.

Taking strong exception to Modi’s “ghuspaithiya” jibe, Owaisi said, “The real infiltrators are the Chinese troops which have been occupying so much of our territory in Ladakh and other places. If the Prime Minister has the courage, he should drive them out.”