Hyderabad: All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) president and Hyderabad MP Asaduddin Owaisi on Saturday said that nothing has changed for Muslims in 75 years as their marginalisation is continuing and no one wants them to share power.
Speaking in Lok Sabha on 75 years of the Constitution of India, Owaisi highlighted how the rights of minorities guaranteed under the Constitution were being undermined.
He accused the Narendra Modi government of trying to take away fundamental rights and snatch Waqf properties.
Owaisi began his speech by quoting Dr B.R. Ambedkar from what he wrote in a Memorandum on the Rights of States and Minorities, dated March 24, 1947, which he submitted to the Sub-Committee on Fundamental Rights set up by the Constituent Assembly’s Advisory Committee on Fundamental Rights, Minorities, etc.
“Unfortunately for the minorities in India, Indian nationalism has developed a new doctrine which may be called the Divine Right of the Majority to rule the minorities according to the wishes of the majority. Any claim for the sharing of power by the minority is called communalism, while the monopolising of the whole power by the majority is called nationalism. Guided by such political philosophy the majority is not prepared to allow the minorities to share political power, nor is it willing to respect any convention made in that behalf as is evident from their repudiation of the obligation (to include representatives of the minorities in the Cabinet) contained in the Instrument of Instructions issued to the Governors in the Government of India Act of 1935. Under these circumstances there is no way left but to have the rights of the Scheduled Castes embodied in the Constitution,” Ambedkar wrote.
Owaisi said this is true even now. “What Ambedkar said 75 years ago is absolutely correct. No one wants minorities to share power,” he said.
The MP said Parliamentary and Assembly constituencies were created in a manner so that candidates from majority community win while Muslim minorities face difficulty in winning.
He mentioned that the Sachar Committee said in its recommendations that when the delimitation happens, it should be rational so that Muslims win Lok Sabha and Assembly seats.
“I don’t know when delimitation happens after next census, this recommendation will be implemented or not,” he said.
On reservations to Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and other weaker sections, Owaisi said justice was done to those who suffered injustice for thousands of years but reservation was not given to those whose religion is Islam.
Owaisi said the Parliamentary democracy’s success can be measured by implementation of Articles 25, 26, 29, 30, 14 and 21.
Referring to the Article 21 which guarantees right to life, Owaisi said in 1963 eight lakh Muslims were pushed into East Pakistan. He listed out some of the major riots that happened so far. “What has changed please tell me. 2013 Muzaffarnagar 50,000 were shifted. Riots after riots happened. Nellie massacre, Hashimpura, Maliana, Mumbai 93, Ahmedabad 69, Gujarat 2002, Delhi 2022. Nothing has changed,” he said.
“Article 25 says people have right to freely profess and practice religion. Today my daughters are being stopped from wearing Hijab in government institutions. Several states have made laws saying you can’t eat this or that. Haryana and Rajasthan have given powers of police to gaurkashaks, resulting in mob lynchings,” Owaisi said.
He also mentioned about the false claims being made on mosques and dargahs. “I am being asked whether a mosque existed 500 years ago. If I dig up the Parliament and discover something, would it become mine?,” he asked.
He lashed out at the Modi government for trying to snatch waqf properties. “Read Article 26, it gives religious denominations the right to establish and maintain institutions for religious and charitable purposes. The Prime Minister says that Waqf has nothing to do with the Constitution. Who is teaching the PM? Make him read Article 26. The goal is to snatch away Waqf properties. You want to snatch it away on the basis of your strength,” Owaisi said.
The AIMIM chief alleged that the BJP is trying to finish the Urdu language in the country and promote Hindutva culture.
“Read Article 29, it gives freedom of language. Urdu, a language in which our freedom fighters gave the slogan of ‘Inquilab Zindabad’, has been finished. BJP speaks about cultural nationalism. It is the cultural nationalism of upper castes, of Hindutva which has no connection with the Indian culture,” he said.
