Asaduddin Owaisi, the All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) chief, on Sunday said “The day is not far when there will be a mob lynching of a Muslim in Parliament.” His remarks came amidst the ongoing controversy over Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP Ramesh Bidhuri’s derogatory comments against a Muslim MP in the Lok Sabha. “We see that a BJP MP abuses a Muslim MP in the Parliament. People are saying that he should not have said all this in Parliament, they say his tongue is bad. This is the representative of the people for whom you voted… The day is not far when there will be a mob lynching of a Muslim in the Parliament of the country…,” he said, recalling the Parliament session on Friday when the remarks were made. “Where is your ‘Sabka Sath, Sabka Vikas? The Prime Minister of this country will not speak a word…” Owaisi added, taking a dig at Prime Minister Modi. Ramesh Bidhuri, a BJP MP, triggered a controversy with objectionable remarks against BSP leader Kunwar Danish Ali in the Lok Sabha during a discussion on the Chandrayaan-3 mission on Friday.
On Sunday, BJP Nishikant Dubey condemned the language used by Bidhuri and wrote to Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla and demanded that Ali’s “unsavoury” conduct in Parliament be investigated as well. “The fact remains that during the entire speech of Shri Bidhuri, Shri Danish Ali indulged in a ‘running commentary’ and also made unsavoury remarks towards one and all with a view to cause hindrance to Shri Bidhuri and also instigate him to ‘lose his calm and composure’ and not be able to express his views in the House,” Dubey wrote in his letter.
In an exclusive ground survey conducted by India News on Monday, respondents’ opinions on AIMIM chief Owaisi’s comments ranged from “very irresponsible” (23.60%) to an insult to the Parliament (8.99%), fearmongering politics (28.09%) and an attempt to provoke the Muslim community (32.58%). The same percentage of respondents (17.89%) felt the primary reason for the controversy between MPs Bidhuri and Ali was Ramesh Bidhuri’s unsavoury language and communal hatred. A major chunk (44.9%) attributed it to political rivalry while 12.36% could not decide. As for the complaints that Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla received against Danish Ali, 35.97% of respondents believe that Ali was running a hate agenda and 22.47% said that the BSP MP was also at fault. Further, a video of Haryana Congress chief Uday Bhan using hateful language about Prime Minister Narendra Modi surfaced on Saturday. This was one day after Congress leader Rahul Gandhi met with Ali in a show of support. Regarding this sequence of events, 70.79% of respondents felt Gandhi was attempting to save Uday Bhan, while 25.84% of respondents disagreed.