Nagpur (Maharashtra) [India], January 11 : All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) chief Asaduddin Owaisi asserted that Muslims need to create their own political agency by not being mere voters for other parties.
While addressing a public meeting here, he said that the houses of Muslims will be bulldozed if they continue to participate in the democratic processes as mere voters without focusing on "making their own political agency".
He further alleged that all political parties try to win Muslim votes through fear.
"Muslims don't have a political agency. If you remain just a voter, your house will be bulldozed. All the political parties, including the BJP, Ajit Pawar, and Eknath Shinde, want to gain your votes by scaring you. Congress wants you to remain a voter so that you can't get anything done. You must make your own political agency," Owaisi said.
Owaisi said that anti-terror laws are being misused, claiming that section 15A of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) is being used against Muslims, Dalits and Adivasis.
He alleged that amendments to the UAPA allow authorities to label individuals as terrorists even from far away, and said the Congress also supported these changes, which he opposed in Parliament earlier.
"SC denied bail to two youths, because during the tenure of Dr Manmohan Singh, terrorism was defined in an Act by P Chidambaram. Section 15A will be used against Muslim, Dalits and Adivasis. In 2019, Amit Shah amended the UAPA Act, which says that an NIA officer sitting in Delhi can declare anybody in Nagpur a terrorist. This Act was supported by Congress. I opposed and wanted voting to take place. The Congress still did not back down," Owaisi said.
Recently, the Supreme Court denied bail to Umar Khalid and Sharjeel Imam in a case linked to the alleged larger conspiracy behind the 2020 north-east Delhi riots, while granting bail to five other accused, observing that the two stand on a "qualitatively different footing" in terms of prosecution and evidence.
The apex court granted bail to Gulfisha Fatima, Meeran Haider, Shifa Ur Rehman, Mohd Saleem Khan and Shadab Ahmad, noting that their culpability, if any, appeared to be limited in nature. However, it declined to extend similar relief to Umar Khalid and Sharjeel Imam.