Why is PM Modi 'afraid' of Muslim women when he calls himself their brother, asks Asaduddin Owaisi

New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi calls himself a "brother" to Muslim women, then why is he "afraid" of them now, AIMIM MP Asaduddin Owaisi said in Lok Sabha on Tuesday, a day after Modi criticised anti-CAA protests at Shaheen Bagh and other areas.

Attacking the government on the issue of Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and National Population of Register (NPR), Owaisi said he challenges Prime Minister Modi to clarify in the House that the NPR and the NRC are not linked and there will be no NRC in the country.

He was participating in a discussion on Motion of Thanks on President's Address. Without mentioning Shaheen Bagh, where Muslim women have been protesting against CAA, NPR and National Register of Citizens (NRC) since December 15, Owaisi said, "I would like to ask Prime Minister Modi that he describes himself as a brother to Muslim women then why is he afraid of them now."

Owaisi's remarks came a day after the Prime Minister, during an election rally in Delhi, said that the anti-CAA protests in Shaheen Bagh and other areas were not a coincidence but a political design to disturb harmony in the country.

Taking on the ruling BJP over the issue of CAA, Owaisi said for the first time in the history of Parliament a bill has been passed which is based on religion. "Today the BJP and the government have created such atmosphere in the country that we are fighting the battle for our existence and if we fail in it, we will be finished," he said.

Owaisi said the current atmosphere in the country is similar to the one in 1933 in Germany while alleging that ruling BJP is trying to make India similar to Hitler's Germany. BJP members strongly objected to his remarks and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi demanded that objectionable statements by Owaisi be expunged.