AIMIM president and Hyderabad MP Asaduddin Owaisi has kicked up a row by questioning the Bharat Ratna and Padma Vibhushan awards being given to former Prime Minister A B Vajpayee and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) patriarch L K Advani.
How can the country’s second highest civilian honour, Padma Vibhushan, be given to Advani who was facing criminal cases (in connection with the Babri masjid demolition), Owaisi said here at a book release function last night.
“The same L K Advani who spread destruction in the country with his ‘Rathyatra’…This could probably be the first instance of Padma Vibhushan being given to a person who is facing criminal cases,” the All India Majlis-e-Ittehad-ul Muslimeen leader said.
As to A B Vajpayee, Asadudin Owaisi alleged that the BJP stalwart had made some controversial comments on the Ayodhya issue, the videos of which were available on the YouTube.
“Have we forgotten December 5 (1992)? The same Atal Bihari Vajpayee who had said ‘we are going to level the ground’ (has been now given the Bharat Ratna),” he claimed.