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All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) Chief Asaduddin Owaisi on Saturday, 25 January, condemned the statement made by Sharjeel Imam, one of the organisers of the anti-citizenship law protest at Shaheen Bagh, after videos of him emerged, wherein he can be heard suggesting that Assam should be cut off from the rest of India.
“Absolutely condemn comment of Sharjeel Imam on Assam. Women in Shaheen Bagh have been protesting for this country in cold weather and this comment is unconditionally against their efforts,” Owaisi told The Quint at an anti-CAA event in Hyderabad.
In a video that has gone viral on social media, Imam can be heard saying, “Do you know what is happening to Assamese Muslims? NRC is already applied there, they have been put in detention centers. We may come to know that in 6-8 months that all Bengalis have been killed - Hindu or Muslim. If we want to help Assam, then we will have to stop the way to Assam for the Indian Army and other supplies. The ‘Chicken Neck’ belongs to Muslims.”
‘Important to Protest in a Democracy’
The Telangana High Court on Saturday, denied permission to hoist the national flag at Charminar during a protest-cum-poetry event organised by the United Muslim Action Committee, of which AIMIM is a part.
Owaisi tweeted that the police rejected permission for the protest meeting and instead advised them to move it to nearby Khilwat Grounds.
“The court has ordered that the event should begin at 6 pm and conclude at 9 pm. The court denied permission to unfurl the flag. The court is supreme but not infallible. But since this is the decision of the court, we will obey it,” Owaisi told The Quint.
Further, hitting out at Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah, Owaisi said, it is important to protest in a democracy to show the powerful that their domination will not work.
“I have been consistently repeating that the Modi-Shah duo is not a normal one. To fight them, we need lot of courage and patience and keep our protests going on...It has already become ‘people’s movement’. Citizens of India have realised that this is not just against Muslims, but to save the soul of India,” Owaisi added.
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