Won’t allow Bharat to become ‘Hindu Rashtra’: Owaisi

PTI, Oct 15, 2019, 2:36 PM IST

Thane: AIMIM president Asaduddin Owaisi has said Bharat is “not a Hindu Rashtra” and they will also not let it become so.

His comments came after RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat last week said the Sangh is firm on its vision that “Bharat is a Hindu Rashtra”.

Addressing an election rally on Monday night in Kalyan town of Maharashtra’s Thane district for party candidate Aiaz Moulavi, Owaisi said a section of society wants to paint the entire country in one colour, but “we see Hindustan in multiple colours, it is the beauty of Hindustan”.

“Bharat is not a Hindu Rashtra, and Inshallah, we will not allow it to become so,” he said.

Alleging that the Shiv Sena was against the green colour, he said, “Change your spectacles and you will see the green colour in the national flag also.”

He said Bharat is unique because of its secularism and pluralism. There is no other country in the world as Bharat and “we are proud of it”.

“I want to tell those in the RSS that we are not living here on your sympathy. If you want to measure the index of my happiness or sorrow, you and we should see what the Constitution has given to us,” Owaisi said.

He also said that the All India Majlis-e-Ittehad-ul- Muslimeen (AIMIM) has established itself in Aurangabad because of its own efforts.

“We will spread to other parts of the state also. You cannot stop us,” he said.

Owaisi also said that the NDA government was patting its own back by banning the practice of triple talaq, but was not aware of the woes of members of the Muslim community.

He demanded that members of the minority community be provided reservation for their progress and development.