Hyderabad: A call for the protection of mosques by AIMIM president Asaduddin Owaisi at a speech at a madarsa in the city resulted in a swift reaction from the BJP which accused Asaddudin of “communalising the consecration of Ram Mandir”.
A war of words ensued between the two parties after a part of a speech by Asaduddin, at a gathering at Madrasa-e-Arabia Anwar-ul-Uloom on Monday in the Bhavaninagar area, spoke about the need to protect mosques indirectly referring to how a mosque was demolished in Ayodhya and what was now happening there.
He said, “We lost our mosque and you are witness to what is being done there. Do your youth, and we all, not feel the pain of what is happening there? That was the place where for 500 years prayers were offered. That place is not in our hands anymore. There are three or four more mosques like this including the Sunehri Masjid in Delhi. The attempts are to drive away the unity, the concern for community.”
Asaduddin called on the youth to keep mosques “alive”, and to ensure unity in the community. We have reached where we are today after years of hard work. Let there be no situation where our mosques are snatched away from us and I hope that the youth who will be tomorrow’s adults will pay thought to how to protect themselves, their families, their communities, and their city. Unity is strength and a blessing.”
After his post on X with part of his speech about mosques went viral, BJP’s national executive member Amit Malviya took to X saying “Asaduddin Owaisi is doing what he does best, communalising the consecration of Ram Mandir. In 2020, two mosques in Hyderabad, Masjid-e-Mohammadi and Masjid-e-Hashmi were demolished to build the Secretariat but Owaisi, who is a Member of Parliament from the city, didn’t utter a word.”
However, Malviya’s post received a swift response from the AIMIM which, referring to the two mosques in the Secretariat complex, said, “The masjids were illegally demolished but reconstructed. Today, namaz is offered in them. Everyone protested the demolition, including AIMIM. The CM himself participated in the inauguration of the reopened mosques.”
The AIMIM further said this was “not the case with Babri Masjid, which was first desecrated in December 1949, converted to a full-fledged temple in 1986 and demolished in December 1992. Isn’t this what you want to do with Kashi and Mathura as well? Yes, there is a Supreme Court judgement. The Court is supreme but not infallible. Why is the BJP shy about the Places of Worship Act? It is still the law of the land. Will the BJP defend its constitutionality in court or not?”
