- Monday, July 01, 2024
Asaduddin Owaisi, who won from Hyderabad constituency for fifth consecutive time in 2024 general elections, said the Constitution did not bar him from chanting such a slogan.
By: Shubham Ghosh
ASADUDDIN OWAISI, one of India’s top Muslim leaders and a parliamentarian from the southern city of Hyderabad, is no stranger to controversies. On Tuesday (25), he was party to yet another such occasion when he chanted “Jai Palestine” (Hail Palestine) while taking oath as a member of India’s new Lok Sabha or Lower House of the parliament which was formed after the recent general elections.
The 55-year-old MP, who leads the All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) political party and won the parliamentary election from Hyderabad for the fifth consecutive time this year, later said in a post on social media X that he would continue to raise issues of India’s marginalised with sincerity.
MPs of India’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) chanted “Jai Shri Ram” (Hail Lord Ram) slogan while Owaisi went to take oath. Unfazed, he took his oath in Urdu and concluded by saying “Jai Bhim, Jai Meem, Jai Telangana, Jai Palestine”, taking an apparent dig at the Hindu nationalist party and hailing the state of Telangana of which Hyderabad is the capital.
Read: India’s Owaisi blasts Modi’s ‘have most kids’ note: ‘Muslims use condom most’
In 2019, Owaisi concluded his parliamentary oath with the words “Jai Bhim, Allah-o-Akbar and Jai Hind”.
Owaisi defeated BJP’s Madhavi Latha in this year’s election by more than 330,000 votes.
A controversy soon snowballed over his “Jai Palestine” remark but Owaisi was unmoved, saying there was no provision in the Indian Constitution that stopped him from uttering the slogan.
Indian coal and mines minister G Kishan Reddy, who is the MP from Secunderabad in Telangana, often called Hyderabad’s twin city, criticised Owaisi saying his slogan was “absolutely wrong” and against the Indian Constitution.
“On one hand, he is taking an oath in the name of the Constitution and, on the other, giving a slogan against the Constitution. The real face of Owaisi is out. Every day, they raise issues against the country and the Constitution,” Reddy said, according to an India Today report.
Parliamentary affairs minister Kiren Rijiju said while India does not support or oppose any country, it is not right to take the name of any country in the House.
The Indian government has grown close to Israel over the last many years of prime minister Narendra Modi.
However, an uproar from the treasury benches led to the chair of the House striking Owaisi’s remarks off record.
Radha Mohan Singh, who was in the chair at the time, assured the protesting members that anything apart from the oath will not go on record, Press Trust of India reported.
The disturbance continued for few minutes, after which the oath-taking resumed.
Pro-tem speaker Bhartruhari Mahtab returned to the chair soon, and said that only oath or affirmation is being recorded.
“I have said earlier please avoid invoking anything other than oath or affirmation. That is only to be recorded… That should be adhered to,” Mahtab said.
Explaining why he mentioned Palestine, Owaisi later told the mediapersons that they are “oppressed people”.
When the current conflict between Israel and Hamas broke out in October last year, Owaisi had said the Palestine situation was not just a matter concerning Muslims but humanity.
He had also called Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu “the devil”.
The conflict completed eight months in June, leaving nearly 40,000 dead and several millions displaced.
(With PTI inputs)
