As Modi’s BJP tightens its grip on India with majoritarian politics that put Hindus above all, the Muslim leader seeks to become the voice of his community in the world’s most populous nation.
All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen chief Asaduddin Owaisi speaks during a public meeting in Ahmedabad on February 7, 2021. Photo: AFP
An equal-opportunity offender, Owaisi has thrown down the gauntlet to his rivals left, right and centre. Yet Owaisi is probably the most recognisable Muslim leader across India, thanks to his take-no-prisoners style of media-savvy politics that often leaves his opponents seething with rage. “Muslims will not leave India. They will fight democratically to achieve all the rights guaranteed to the citizens in the constitution of India. As long as we live, we will follow Islam and the constitution,” Owaisi"We will not remove our beards or hijab as the constitution guarantees us certain rights. We will stay in India and will also die here.
That Owaisi’s politics is for Muslims instead of Islam is evident from his unorthodox positions on a range of issues, such as the subsidy given to Muslims for Hajj – the Islamic pilgrimage to Mecca. He calls it “stupid” and wants the government to use the money to build schools for girls instead.Owaisi is the first Muslim leader since Jinnah to be able to criticise his community’s religious classes and their concerns without risking his own status.
But what surprises many is Owaisi’s staunch opposition to secular parties like Congress, which have long claimed to be the protector of minority rights in India. India’s Muslim population, for the record, is the third biggest in the world after Indonesia and Pakistan.
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