Fadnavis Slams Owaisi, Calls Him Descendants of Razakars

Mumbai:Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Monday slammed AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi calling him “descendants of Razakars.” The attack came a day after the Hyderabad MP took a jibe at the BJP leader saying our ancestors “waged jihad against the British Raj” when yours were “writing ‘love letters to them.”

“They are descendants of Razakars. The Razakars tortured the people of Marathwada, looted their lands, tried to rape women and destroyed families. How can they talk to us?” Fadnavis said in Nagpur.

The Razakars mean ‘volunteers’ in Arabic. They were a paramilitary force in the princely state of Hyderabad in British India, created to maintain the rule of Nizams after Independence. They were crushed by the Indian forces and were disbanded after Hyderabad was assimilated into India.

The war of words between the two leaders started after Fadnavis on Saturday had said that ‘vote jihad’ had started in Maharashtra and it was responsible for the BJP’s loss in some seats in the state during the Lok Sabha elections held earlier this year. Vote-Jihad should be countered by ‘Dharma-Yuddha’ of the vote, the BJP leader said.

Reacting sharply to him, Owaisi said on Sunday, “Our ancestors did jihad against Britishers and Fadnavis is now teaching us about jihad. (PM) Narendra Modi, (Union minister) Amit Shah and Devendra Fadnavis together cannot defeat me in a debate.”

“From where did ‘vote jihad and dharmayuddha’ come in democracy? You purchased MLAs; should we call you a thief?” the Hyderabad MP questioned.

He said his ancestors waged jihad against the British, not Fadnavis’. “Our ancestors did jihad against the British, not yours. Fadnavis, whose ancestors were writing love letters to the British, will teach us jihad?” he added.

Polling for the Maharashtra Vidhan Sabha elections will be held in a single phase on November 20 while the results will be declared on November 23. The term of the current Assembly ends on November 26.