Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar, Jan 11 (PTI) The Congress joined hands with the BJP to amend the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, or UAPA, due to which Muslim youth are languishing in jail, claimed AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi on Sunday.
Addressing rallies in Maharashtra’s Parbhani and Jalna to canvass for his party candidates ahead of the January 15 civic polls, he also questioned the BJP’s nationalist credentials over the government’s invitation to Chinese companies to invest in India after Operation Sindoor.
“The Congress calls us the BJP’s ‘B-team’ whenever elections are around the corner. However, it helped the BJP amend the UAPA. The so-called secular parties are scripting our devastation. They make the law to ensure that Muslim youth rot in jails,” he said in Parbhani.
The ruling and opposition parties are the “enemies of development in your (Muslim dominated) areas”, said the head of the All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM).
In Parbhani, the Hyderabad MP claimed, the Congress winners will join hands with the ruling BJP, Shiv Sena and NCP. “People should not fall prey to their hollow promises here,” he said.
With the passage of the Waqf law, non-Muslims will now be nominated to the Waqf Boards, he said. “They will do what they are told to do (by those who nominate them). NCP chief Ajit Pawar was an ally of the BJP when the Waqf bill was passed. People should vote against such individuals to oppose this black law,” he said.
Owaisi also targeted the Shiv Sena (UBT)-Maharashtra Navnirman Sena alliance, saying MNS chief Raj Thackeray had demanded that the azan be stopped. He also claimed that employees of the Parbhani civic body have not been paid for the past three months.
The AIMIM president claimed that the authorities in Uttar Pradesh are randomly declaring individuals to be Bangladeshis.
Earlier in the day, speaking at a rally in Jalna, Owaisi accused the Centre of inviting Chinese companies to invest in India even after Operation Sindoor and failing to respond to what he called US President Donald Trump’s repeated insults.
There has been no response from either the government or the BJP on Owaisi’s accusations so far.
Owaisi alleged that China had supplied arms to Pakistan during Operation Sindoor, which India had launched to respond to the Pahalgam terror attack. He claimed that nearly 80 per cent of Pakistan’s military equipment was sourced from China.
“Despite this, the Indian government is inviting Chinese companies to invest in the country,” he said.
He also claimed that US President Trump had been “repeatedly insulting and mocking India”. “However, the BJP leadership has remained silent. Where has its nationalism gone?” he asked.
Owaisi slammed the Centre’s decision to grant asylum to former Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina after her ouster. He asked why Indian Muslims were often branded as Bangladeshis, while Hasina was given refuge in India.
In Jalna too, he attacked the Congress over the UAPA.
The masks of “so-called secular parties” got exposed after they aligned with the BJP. Such parties are equally responsible for the backwardness of Dalits and Muslims, he said.
Calling upon Muslims to go beyond being mere voters, he urged them to create their own leadership. “They made you slaves and used you,” he said.
His party has fielded candidates in 17 of the 65 electoral wards in the Jalna civic body. PTI COR AW NR
This report is auto-generated from PTI news service. ThePrint holds no responsibility for its content.