Owaisi demands ban on right-wing meet

Hyderabad: AIMIM president Asaduddin Owaisi has demanded a ban on Mahapanchayat proposed to be held by right-wing groups in Uttarakhand on June 15.

The Hyderabad MP said in a tweet on Monday that the Mahapanchayat to be held on June 15 should be banned immediately. "Security should be provided to the people living there. Arrangements should be made to bring back the people who have migrated from there," he said.

Owaisi reminded the BJP government it is their job to send the culprits to jail and restore peace.

Right-wing groups plan to hold Mahapanchayat in Uttarkashi's Purola on June 15 amid continued communal tension in the area.

Posters threatening Muslim traders to shut shops and leave the state by June 15 have also come up in Purola market. Due to the tension and threats, Muslims have shut their shops and some families have migrated from the district.

According to reports, trouble started on May 26 after two men, a Muslim and a Hindu, allegedly tried to abduct a 14-year-old girl. Some people alleged that it was a case of 'Love Jihad'. Though the accused were arrested, some right-wing groups staged protests and attacked shops and houses of several Muslims.

A protest march in Purola on May 29 turned violent after some of the agitators attacked shops and establishments belonging to the Muslims. A similar protest was held on June 3, under the banner of Yamuna Ghati Hindu Jagriti Sangathan. Hundreds of people took part in the protest.

In another tweet, Owaisi said that Muslims are aghast that the community is being targetted for the alleged criminal act committed by one among them, and that their Pasmanda (backward) identity and allegiance to the BJP have failed to insulate them from the Hindutva brigade's manufactured fury.

"Truly, the BJP's Pasmanda rhetoric is full of sweet words and promises signifying, in reality, nothing. The Real Agenda is to Invisibilize Muslims ,make them 2nd Class citizens," he added.

The MP was reacting to a media report that BJP has betrayed Pasmanda Muslims of Purola.