Hyderabad: AIMIM president and Hyderabad MP Asaduddin Owaisi has termed the new Vande Mataram law an insult to Mahatma Gandhi, Rabindranath Tagore and Subhash Chandra Bose as the three had decided that only the first two stanzas should be adopted and sung.Owaisi also termed the Allahabad high court ruling rejecting a Muslim girl’s petition seeking to wear a headscarf at school as an attack on Islam. “It is our religion and we will decide what is essential. Who are the judges to decide?” he asked.Addressing a public meeting Jalsa e Rahmatul Lil Alameen at Dar Us Salam late on Tuesday night, Owaisi asked: “Is PM Narendra Modi more patriot, wiser and intellectual than Gandhi, Bose and Tagore that he brought a new law on Vande Mataram?”“The country belongs to all. Some worship Bharat, while others wish to be buried in its soil, but all of us love India. Do not ask me to treat the nation as god. I will continue to proclaim ‘La ilaha illallah, Muhammadur Rasulullah,’ whether you imprison me, shoot me, or try to silence me,” he said.The preamble of the Constitution begins with “We, the People of India and not Bharat Mata.” There are 11 crore unemployed youth in the country and instead of giving jobs to them, the Modi govt wants them to recite Vande Mataram. The youth are hitting the streets against govt, but Modi wants them to become ‘gau rakshaks’. Now, they are also saying don’t eat fish but a fish market in Gujarat has been named after Narendra Modi,” he added.Owaisi questioned the high court’s authority to determine essential religious practices when the “essentiality issue” as part of Sabarimala case was pending before the Supreme Court. The HC ruling violates Articles 19 and 25 of the Constitution. “The girls wear hijab on their heads, not on their minds. Uniformity is not equality,” he said.The AIMIM president slammed RSS and BJP and questioned the Uniform Civil Code (UCC) moves in Assam and Uttarakhand terming it as the Hindu Marriage Act, the Hindu law on divorce being thrust on Muslims. “These efforts would fail, as Muslims will hold on to their faith,” he stated. He urged the gathering to hold firmly to their religion while working for the country, saying Muslims could help protect India and make it a superpower while remaining faithful to Islam.He accused RSS and BJP of having historically favoured the Manusmriti over the Constitution.
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