Asad: Secretariat inauguration invitee list is BRS choice

Hyderabad: While expressing satisfaction that the new Secretariat was being named after Dr B.R. Ambedkar, which he had suggested, AIMIM president Asaduddin Owaisi on Saturday said that it was the BRS’s prerogative to not send him an invitation for its inaugural.

Responding to questions from the media at Darussalam, the party headquarters, Owaisi said he hoped that the state government was restoring the two mosques which were demolished at the site. “It’s a massive construction and taller than the Taj Mahal. I am happy that it is being named after Ambedkar, which was my idea. It’s their prerogative (to invite whoever they wish),” he said.

On the BRS's planning to hold a public meeting at Nanded in Maharashtra, where the MIM has stakes, on Sunday, Owaisi said that did not have any problem with it. “But those who claim to have the patent rights of being nationalists (BJP) and secular (Congress) should have a problem,” Owaisi said. “We have to see what their reaction will be. Now who will be called the B-Team.”

While stressing the need for a serious discussion in Parliament on problems facing the nation, Owaisi, the Hyderabad MP, said that if the proceedings went smoothly he would like to speak on various issues including that of the Adani Group.

“If Parliament runs, there will be proper discussion on issues. But the government is saving itself. Modi is escaping and questions are not being asked,” he felt.

Owaisi took serious note of the way the Assam government was handling the issue of child marriages and questioned as to who would take care of the wife when the spouse is sent behind bars. Over 2,000 people, including 52 priests and qazis, have been arrested under the Pocso Act and the Child Marriage Act.

Over Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma’s statements regarding the Ram Mandir, Owaisi felt that he should first read the judgment of the Supreme Court which does not mention the existence of any structure at the spot where the mosque existed. “Where does the Supreme Court mention the temple? The judgment was clearly based on faith,” he added.