Union Minister Venkaiah Naidu criticised AIMIM leader Asaduddin Owaisi for his refusal to chant ‘Bharat Mata ki Jai’. Talking to media persons in Delhi on Tuesday, Naidu said that “he should be ashamed for saying that he won’t say Bharat Mata ki Jai.”
Owaisi, at a public rally in Udgir tehsil of Latur district on Sunday, said that:
I don’t chant that slogan. What are you going to do, Bhagwat sahab. I won’t utter that (slogan) even if you put a knife to my throat. Nowhere in the Constitution does it say that one should say ‘Bharat Mata ki Jai’.Asaduddin Owaisi, AIMIM leader
Apart from Naidu, several other leaders have spoken out in response to the Owaisi comment. Shiv Sena demanded that Owaisi be sent to Pakistan for his refusal to chant pro-India mantra.
Owaisi doesn’t deserve to stay in India because he does not respect the country that has given him so much. He should go to Pakistan or we will drive him out of this country.Ramdas Kadam, Shiv Sena leader
Kadam said this on Monday on the sidelines of the Budget Session of the Maharashtra legislature. Lok Sabha MP and BJP’s national spokesperson Meenakshi Lekhi asked about the ideology Owaisi follows.
Former Law minister and Congress leader Salman Khurshid said, on Monday:
It gives us pride when we sing the national anthem, to see our flag, to say ‘Vande Matram’... Some people don’t want to do it, it’s their choice.
Senior CPI leader Atul Kumar Anjaan while speaking to Times Now said:
Neither the speeches of RSS nor Owaisi will take this country forward.
Dr Rakesh Sinha, RSS leader and a regular face on TV debates said:
Owaisi is the residue of Muslim League, he is propagating Jinnah’s ideology. Owaisi is following the unfinished agenda of Jinnah, he is provoking people.
On 3 March, Bhagwat had said the new generation needs to be
taught to chant slogans hailing mother India.
Also read:
I Won’t Say ‘Bharat Mata Ki Jai’: Owaisi Challenges Bhagwat
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