New Delhi: In a blistering attack on the Centre during the discussion on a resolution on the Ram Temple in Parliament, AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi on Saturday questioned if the BJP was “only for Hindutva”. While the members in the Lok Sabha were debating on adopting a resolution on the opening of the grand temple at the birthplace of Ram Lalla in Ayodhya, the MP claimed that the Babri Masjid “remains and will remain where it is”.
Hitting out at Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the AIMIM leader demanded that the ruling BJP at the Centre come clean on whether it was running a government for people of a particular faith or all communities.
“I want to ask PM Modi if he is presiding over a government that works for a particular community or religion or the entire country? Does the government of India have a religion of its own? I believe that this country doesn’t stand for any religion,” Owaisi said to dissenting voices from the Treasury benches.
#WATCH | During the discussion on the construction of the historic Ram Temple and Pran Pratishta begins in Lok Sabha, AIMIM MP Asaduddin Owaisi says “I want to ask if Modi Govt is the government of a particular community, religion or the government of the entire country? Does GoI… pic.twitter.com/cU6tS1WIxu
— ANI (@ANI) February 10, 2024
Further questioning the resolution on the Ram Mandir in the Lower House, Owaisi called on the government to clarify if the exercise was meant to commemorate a moment of triumph of one community over the other.
“Through this resolution on the Ram Temple opening in Ayodhya, does this government want to mark the triumph of one religion over the other? What message are they sending out to the 17 crore Muslims across the country? Am I standing here as a spokesperson for Babar, Jinnah or Aurangzeb?” he questioned.
Training his guns at the BJP, Owaisi said, while he holds Lord Ram in highest regard as do millions across the country, he doesn’t stand for the ideas espoused by Mahatma Gandhi’s killer Nathuram Godse. “I respect Lord Ram but hate Nathuram Godse as he fatally shot a person whose last words were ‘Hey Ram’,” Owaisi said.
Lok Sabha member Rajendra Agarwal, who was in the Speaker’s chair at the time, came out with a fiery retort to the AIMIM chief and sought to remind him that the Ram Temple was built on the orders of the Supreme Court. Agarwal said that the apex court based its final judgment in the Ram Janmabhoomi title suit on scientific evidence cited in the ASI report.
Invoking the demolition of the Babri Masjid, Agarwal said, “Since you are a Muslim scholar and a student of law, you must be aware that a mosque raised at a site of another religious structure is not considered valid in Islam.”