Hyderabad, Feb 27 (PTI) Criticising Prime Minister Narendra Modi over his recent visit to Israel, AIMIM president Asaduddin Owaisi on Friday asked whether Israeli strikes in Gaza that killed over 73,000 people do not amount to terrorism.
Addressing a gathering at Masjid-e-Chowk here, he said PM Modi, who addressed the Israeli parliament on February 25, did not recall that a “Jewish terrorist” had killed 29 people at a mosque in 1994 on the same day.
Citing reported figures, he said more than 73,000 confirmed deaths took place in Gaza, while the number of missing persons runs into several lakhs.
“Did all those killed in Gaza belong to Hamas? Who were they? Of the 73,000 (killed in Gaza), 36,000 were small children. About 15,000 were women. Thousands of buildings were demolished. There is so much debris that it will take 10 years to clear. When you have gone there, is it not terrorism what is happening in Gaza?” he asked.
While Modi should have condemned Hamas in his address, he should have also spoken about what Owaisi called “Israeli terrorism”.
The AIMIM has condemned the atrocities against Hindus in Bangladesh, he said.
In a veiled reference to former Bangladesh PM Sheikh Hasina, who is residing in India, Owaisi said sending the woman back “would help resolve the issues with Bangladesh”.
Alleging that Modi’s “love” for Israel is ideological, he cited a media report which claimed that an Israeli Consulate General in Mumbai in 1975 used to meet Jana Sangh leaders.
He also referred to reports that Mahatma Gandhi’s assassin Nathuram Godse’s brother Gopal Godse met Israeli Consulate in Mumbai, in 1973, to seek support for publishing material against Muslims.
Owaisi claimed that the Global South was cocerned about Modi’s engagement with Israel. If Modi opposes wars, then he should have also spoken against the speculated attack on Iran by the US.
“The ideology is same, ideology of Zionism and RSS. It is based on hate,” the AIMIM leader said.
Citing historical references, he said the country’s first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru had accepted weapons from Israel during 1962 Sino-Indian war.
Training his guns on Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma over his alleged remarks suggesting lower fares for Muslim auto drivers, Owaisi asked whether the former would weaken the country for electral gains.
“Pakistan, China does not need to come to weaken the country. You are breaking the social fabric,” he said.
The AIMIM president also condemned the alleged demolition of a Dargah at Vemulawada in Telangana and alleged hate crimes in Rudrapur in Uttarakhand, and Meerut in UP, reported attacks on some houses at Jabalpur in Madhya Pradesh and a proposed law in Gujarat which mandates parental consent for marriage. PTI SJR SJR ROH
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