Owaisi takes umbrage to stereotyping of Muslims in Modi’s speech

Purnea (Bihar): AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owai on Monday took strong exception to the stereotyping of Muslims in a speech by Prime Minister Narendra Modi the day before.

Addressing an election rally in Bihar, the Hyderabad MP said he would like to conduct a “post mortem” examination on Modi’s speech in Rajasthan where the PM had torn into the Congress manifesto, raking up an old remark of his predecessor Manmohan Singh.

“Modi said Muslims have more children. That is a lie. Fertility rate has declined in the community and, according to official data, it is 2.36 per cent. Though, admittedly, the fertility rate is lower among our Hindu brethren,” Owaisi told the rally in Purnea district.

Alleging that the prime minister “told a lie, as he has always done” at the Banswara rally, Owaisi said the remarks were “divisive”.

He said, “Going by Modi’s logic, the southern states may start agitating over having fewer MPs in Parliament, just because population growth is less rapid there, though these states contribute more to the GDP than the north”.

The AIMIM chief said “I may be taunted for having six children. But what about Modi, who has six siblings and his party colleagues like Amit Shah and Ravi Shankar Prasad, both of whom were born in large families?”

Owaisi also condemned the use of the word “ghuspaithiye” (infiltrators) by Modi, saying it was an “insult” to the people living in the Seemanchal region of Bihar that lies close to Bangladesh and Nepal, and claimed that in Parliament, the government has repeatedly failed to furnish data on illegal immigrants.

The AIMIM chief also said, “The Prime Minister indulges in dog-whistling against Muslims in his own country while holding his counterparts in places like Dubai in a warm embrace, with greetings of Ya Habibi (my dear)!”

Claiming that many attempts have been made in this country to finish off Muslims, he said the British tried this and “we drove them out”.

“In the riots that took place in Bhagalpur, Muslims were slaughtered and crops were grown on their graves. Yet, the community is still surviving in that city.

“Modi should also remember the example of his home state of Gujarat where Muslims have survived the genocide that took place under his watch,” alleged Owaisi.

The AIMIM has said it will be contesting over a dozen seats in Bihar..

Its state unit chief and MLA Akhtarul Iman is in the fray from the Muslim-majority Kishanganj constituency, parts of which fall in Purnea.