Asaduddin Owaisi
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Speeches
Pinaki Chakraborty, February 14, 2022: The Times of India
Asaduddin Owaisi, the chief of the All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM), a party that was formed in 1960, has since the 2000s expanded its electoral foothold in states like Maharashtra, Karnataka and Uttar Pradesh.
He is often seen in a sherwani and a skull cap, and has great command over Urdu, Hindi and English. He is articulate, witty and does not hold back. It might be why both BJP and Congress parties accuse Owaisi of being a B team of one another.
Positioning himself as the true leader of the Muslims in the country, he has said time and again that the main parties treat Muslims like an orchestra at a wedding. "Just like the bandwalas are told to play music outside wedding hall, and are not given entry."
But he has also, in clear terms, said that Muslims in India can fight their own battles — they do not need Imran Khan or any other Pakistani to speak on their behalf.
Here are some of Owaisi’s best speeches.
1. 'Don’t lecture us,' he tells Pakistan
While addressing a poll rally in UP, he asked Pakistan to mind its own business. Pakistan foreign minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi had, in a reference to the Karnataka hijab controversy, accused India of violating Muslim girls' human rights by depriving them of education. Taking a dig at Islamabad, Owaisi said that a country that could not protect Nobel laureate Malala Yousafzai, who has been working on girls' education, had no right to talk about the hijab row.
2. 'Worry about Pakistan,' he told Imran
It is not the first time that Owaisi had hit out at the neighbouring country. In January 2020, after Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan shared a gory video claiming it to be a case of police brutality "against Muslims" in Uttar Pradesh, Owaisi slammed Imran and asked him to worry about Pakistan.
3. ‘Not Z security, I want to be an A-class citizen’
Owaisi's vehicle had allegedly been fired at when he was on his way back from a poll rally in Meerut on February 3. When the government offered him Z+ security, he turned it down, saying that he did not think his life was valued more than those of the "22 people" who died during the CAA protests. "I don't like people with arms around me. I'm a free bird, want to live freely.”
4. 'Why do you open more police stations than schools in Muslim areas?’
Owaisi has never been shy of criticising the government and call out politicians who he believes have been unfair to Muslims. In this speech made in the Lok Sabha in 2015, he asked, "Why is it that, after 68 years of Independence, the Muslims cannot find or rent a house or flat in any metropolitan city? ... For 69 years, I have been called a Pakistani. What about my right(s)?”
5. 'Triple talaq law is not meant to help women'
During the discussion on triple talaq, Owaisi termed the law criminalising as unconstitutional and said the move was not in favour of Muslim women. In this 2019 speech in the Lok Sabha, he said, "If you care about women so much, why have you not supported the Hindu women in Kerala who wanted to enter Sabarimala?”
6. When he tore up the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill in Lok Sabha
On December 11, 2019, India's amended citizenship rules became law. It promised citizenship for Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, Parsis and Christians from Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan, and who entered India on or before 31 December 2014. Only Muslim communities were not included. That day in Parliament, Owaisi said, "This law is being made so India is partitioned a second time ... I am tearing up this bill because it is trying to break India."
Owaisi quote-unquote
1. "Islam is a way of life the way Hinduism is. We have failed to separate religion from politics. Why do people, who hold important Constitutional position, go to temple and are given security? Why can't they go in their private capacities?"
2. "We have two political power centres in India. One calls Muslims and Dalits as puppies and dogs. The other throws crumbs at us and tell us to wag our tails"
3. "PM Modi never speaks on 2 things, rise in petrol and diesel prices & China sitting in our territory in Ladakh. PM is afraid of speaking on China. Our 9 soldiers died (in J&K) & on Oct 24 India-Pakistan T20 match will happen"
4. "Partition did not happen due to Muslims but due to Jinnah. At that time, only those Muslims could vote who were influential like nawabs or degree holders. Congress and leaders of that time were responsible for partition"
