Hyderabad: AIMIM (All India Majlis-e-Ittehad-ul Muslimeen) president and Hyderabad MP Asaduddin Owaisi on Tuesday took serious exception to a comparison made between his party and the Sanatan Sanstha that is accused of killing some prominent people in recent times.
Senior BJP leader and Maharashtra revenue minister Eknath Khadse made the statement in Mumbai.
To a question on effecting a ban on Sanatan Sanstha, he told the media that if Sanstha should be banned, then organisations like AIMIM too deserved to be banned.
In a reaction, Asad Owaisi told Deccan Chronicle that, clearly, the minister had been hypnotized by the teachings of Sanatan Sanstha. The Sanstha, unlike AIMIM, believed in violence and killings. So, comparing the MIM with Sanatan Sanstha was absurd, Owaisi said.
Khadse has been hypnotised by the Sanstha’s dream of making India a Hindu Rashtra by 2023. AIMIM, he said, firmly believed in the Indian Constitution and pluralism.
“The All India Majlis-e-Ittehad-ul Muslimeen does not want India to be a Hindu Rashtra, and the Indian Constitution also does not allow this.”
The Majlis-e-Ittehad-ul Muslimeen chief said according to the teachings of Sanatan Sanstha, “Setting up of a God’s Kingdom” was its aim. It does not subscribe to Indian the Constitution, it endorsed the Varna system of caste discrimination, and teaches people as to what to wear and what not to wear. The minister, however, appeared to think that it is a brotherhood organisation that believed in a Hindu Rashtra, and this may be why he has a soft corner for the Sanstha,” Mr Asaduddin Owaisi said.
The Hyderabad MP said it was unfortunate that a senior minister holding a responsible position held such a view.
“Under the circumstances, rest assured that justice will not be done in the case of killings of rationalist Govind Pansare in Kolhapur and anti-superstition activist Narendra Dabholkar in Pune.”
In both the killings, the Maharashtra police is investigating the role of the Sanatan Sanstha. “They have already arrested Sanstha activist Samir Gaekwad. The statement made by Eknath Khadse would adversely impact the probe, and chances are that those arrested in connection with the murder would be let off the hook soon,” Mr Owaisi added.
