BJP and allies targeting Waqf Board, vote them out: Owaisi at Maharashtra civic polls rally

Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar: All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) president Asaduddin Owaisi has accused the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party and its allies of attempting to undermine Muslim religious institutions through the Waqf Act. Addressing a rally in Nanded on Monday evening, Owaisi alleged that the recently passed Waqf Act is being used to “lock mosques” and challenge the ownership of centuries-old dargahs, claiming the government aims to transfer their control to the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI). He urged voters to reject the BJP, Ajit Pawar-led NCP, and Eknath Shinde’s Shiv Sena in the Nanded-Waghala Municipal Corporation elections scheduled on January 15. Owaisi asserted that Muslims are "not tenants or second-class citizens" and India is their country too.

AIMIM has fielded 37 candidates for the 81-seat Nanded civic body. "People should vote against these parties to send a strong message to those seeking to finish off the Waqf Board in the state and the country," Owaisi said. "The intention of the government through the Waqf Act is to lock the mosques, show that dargahs which are over 100 years old are not owned by Waqf and that the ASI owns them. This election is taking place after the Waqf Act came into force. People must send a message to Shinde, Pawar and Prime Minister Narendra Modi that we don't accept this law,” he said. "People should use their right to vote against this law that is made against mosques, dargahs and kabrastans," he added. Owaisi also said that the SIR (Special Intensive Revision-conducted in several states) will take place in Maharashtra, and if people want their names to remain in the electoral rolls, they should vote this time. Defending his focus on religious issues, Owaisi said, “People say I bring mosques and dargahs into politics. I say this because my connection to these places is rooted in the Constitution’s promise of liberty of thought, expression, and belief.” He also criticised Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar for parting ways with his uncle Sharad Pawar. "He is Ajit Pawar, so he is out (referring to allegations against him), but if a Muslim had been there (in his place), he would have been jailed for 75 years,” Owaisi claimed.

Taking a swipe at BJP MP Ashok Chavan, Owaisi said, “Modi didn’t even make him a minister (at the Centre). He should have at least made him a MoS." The AIMIM leader claimed that Modi sidelined Chavan "like a fly taken out of a cup of tea.” Referring to the Mumbai serial train blasts (of 2006), Owaisi said the incident "claimed 185 lives" and 11 Muslim men were imprisoned for 19 years. “Kamal Ansari (arrested in the train blasts case) died in jail during COVID (in 2021). Neither the victims nor the accused got justice. Was there a CM of AIMIM or Congress at that time? People should question Congress about this,” he said. Notably, in July last year, the Bombay High Court acquitted 12 persons arrested for their involvement in the July 11, 2006 serial train blasts. Reaffirming the equal rights of Muslims, Owaisi said, “We are not tenants or second-class citizens. This is our country too." "If they kill a few persons and try to spread terror, do not let that fear reach you. A large number of Muslims fought the British and were imprisoned in Kalapani," he added.