BJP breathes fire against Akbaruddin

Taking umbrage to the hate speech of MIM legislator Akbaruddin Owaisi, the BJP state president, G. Kishan Reddy, has demanded that the State government initiate criminal proceedings against Mr. Owaisi for hurting the sentiments of a particular community.

Tearing into Mr. Owaisi’s speeches which he said were objectionable and inflammatory, Mr. Reddy asked the government to address a letter to the Assembly Speaker to annul the membership of the former.

He also urged the government to write a letter to National Election Commission seeking de-recognition of the MIM for making attempts to promote animosity among people on religious grounds.

The BJP chief said Mr. Owaisi addressed the public meetings in Adilabad and Nizamabad districts to explain his party’s recent decision to snap ties with the Congress.

“Instead, religious bigotry, unabashed incitement of religious sentiments and contemptuous insinuation against Hindu gods and goddesses formed the crux of the speeches of a person who was sworn in as an MLA,” Mr. Reddy said.

He also asked as to why the State government did not initiate action despite the use of derogatory words against a particular community.

He said the CDs containing Mr. Owaisi’s hate speeches would be sent to the Governor, Chief Minister and Assembly Speaker seeking action against him.

Meanwhile, social activists from different parts of the country have condemned the speeches of Mr. Owaisi in Nirmal town of Adilabad district and said such ‘obnoxious’ speeches would divide the society, vitiate peace and lead to conflicts.

In a statement issued here on Monday, the activists demanded that the authorities take exemplary action to ensure that such ‘intolerable’ acts were not repeated. They appealed to the people not to react to such deliberate provocations.

The signatories of the statement issued by the Confederation of Voluntary Associations (COVA) included Dr. Asghar Ali Engineer, Swami Agnivesh, Mahesh Bhatt, Mazher Hussain, Hamid Mohammed Khan, M. Mandal, Irfan Engineer, Sandeep Pandey and Ram Punyani.