All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) president Asaduddin Owaisi has said that India is “not a Hindu Rashtra” and his party won’t let it happen either. Owaisi’s comment came days after Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) chief Mohan Bhagwat said the Sangh was firm on the vision that “Bharat is a Hindu Rashtra”.
Addressing a gathering in Kalyan, Owaisi pointed out that while some people wish to paint the country in one colour, his party sees the country in multiple colours, which is also the beauty of India.
“Bharat is not a Hindu Rashtra, and Inshallah, we will not allow it to become so,” he was quoted as saying by the PTI at the rally. Hitting out at Shiv Sena, he said that if the party changes its spectacles, it will be able to see green colours in the national flag too.
Speaking about the country’s greatness, Owaisi said the country is unique due to its secularism as well as pluralism. “There is no other country in the world as Bharat and we are proud of it,” he added.
Targetting the RSS further, the AIMIM chief said, “I want to tell those in the RSS that we are not living here on your sympathy. If you want to measure the index of my happiness or sorrow, you and we should see what the Constitution has given to us.”
Owaisi, while pointing out that AIMIM established itself in Aurangabad on its own efforts, expressed confidence that his party will spread in other parts of Maharashtra too.
He also hit back at the NDA government saying that while it gave itself a pat on the back by banning the practice of Triple Talaq, it wasn’t aware of the woes that the Muslim community face. At the rally, Owaisi also demanded that the minority community be provided reservation so that the community can progress.