Mr Owaisi is right when he questions who “radicalised” the attackers, for we have seen in the last few years that such acts have not always met with stringent punishment.
Shocking visuals shared on social media platforms on Tuesday showed several men cladding saffron scarfs indulging in vandalism at official Delhi house of Asaduddin Owaisi, a member of parliament and the chief of All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM). The men carrying sticks were seen vandalising the name plate outside Mr Owaisi’s residence, while others were seen hurling stones over the gate that appeared to be closed.
One of the men was heard calling Mr Owaisi a “jihadi”, and alleging that the MP and his brother have been making anti-Hindu speeches. “Main Asad Owaisi jihadi ke paas aaya hoon usko sabak sikhane (I have come to teach the jihadi Asad Owaisi a lesson)… Jai Shi Ram,” the man says.
#BreakingNews: Hindu Sena members vandalise MP and #AIMIM chief @asadowaisi official residence in Delhi. The residence is situated next to @ECISVEEP building on Delhi's Ashoka Road. Owaisi said "the mob" raised communal slogans and threatened to kill him.
Five arrested. pic.twitter.com/GJa1X76KRs
— HW News English (@HWNewsEnglish) September 21, 2021
“Anti-Hindu remarks” outraged attackers
Five men were arrested from the scene, police said. “We picked them up from the spot and they claimed during initial questioning that they were agitated with his (Owaisi’s) comments. We are questioning them further,” DCP (New Delhi district) Deepak Yadav told The Indian Express.
A senior police officer said, “The men claim they work for the Hindu Sena in Delhi. They said they heard Owaisi’s recent speeches, and believed he had made ‘anti-Hindu’ remarks.”
Owaisi targets the centre
Mr Owaisi, agitated by the act of vandalism, took to Twitter to vent out his anger at the central government.
Calling the attackers “radicalised goons”, Mr Owaisi said: “Their cowardice is well known & as usual they came in a mob, not alone. They also chose a time when I was not home. They were armed with axes and sticks, they pelted stones at my house, my nameplate was destroyed.”
Mr Owaisi also highlighted that it was not the first time his home has been attacked, and the last time such an attack took place, then union home minister Rajnath Singh was his neighbour.
Mr Owaisi questioned if his house was vandalised, how PM Narendra Modi’s house will be safe which is eight minutes away from his house. “Election Commission HQ is right next door to my house, Parliament Street police station is right across my house. The Prime Minister’s residence is 8 minutes away. If an MP’s house is not safe, then what message is @AmitShah sending?”
Election Commission HQ is right next door to my house, Parliament Street police station is right across my house. The Prime Minister’s residence is 8 minutes away.
If an MP’s house is not safe, then what message is @AmitShah sending? 9/n
— Asaduddin Owaisi (@asadowaisi) September 21, 2021
Breach of high-security zone
Mr Owaisi’s residence is situated in New Delhi’s high-security Ashoka Road area. Being a part of the Lutyens Delhi, the area comprises of houses of high-profile and important personalities, including members of parliament and union ministers.
The presence of the state’s security apparatus in this area is also noticeable as there’s always a constant threat to eminent people staying in the heart of the national capital practically running the country.
However, it is astonishing that an attack of such scale could be pulled off at an MP’s house without any intervention from the security apparatus.
Police, in their defense, said they were alerted by a PCR call. “Police rushed to the spot and detained all the accused from the spot. By then, the men had damaged the entrance gate and windows of the house,” a senior police officer said.
“Who radicalised them?”
Asaduddin Owaisi, taking a swipe at PM Modi, said: “@PMOIndia preaches to the world how we must fight radicalisation, please tell who radicalised these goons? If these thugs think that this is going to scare me, they don’t know Majlis and what we are made of. We’ll never stop our fight for justice.”
@PMOIndia preaches to the world how we must fight radicalisation, please tell who radicalised these goons? If these thugs think that this is going to scare me, they don’t know Majlis and what we are made of. We’ll never stop our fight for justice n/n
— Asaduddin Owaisi (@asadowaisi) September 21, 2021
Mr Owaisi’s question holds merit in today’s time after the attack on his home, as the elements that many earlier referred to as ‘fringe’ have become increasingly mainstream. Their courage to go to an extent of attacking an elected representatives’ house in a highly-secured zone comes from the inaction against the culprits in the similar crimes in the past. It also stems from the constant vilification and demonisation of the Muslim community by the leaders of the ruling party.
Adityanath’s “Abbajaan” remark
Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath, last week, made an outrageous remark when he claimed that before the Bharatiya Janata Party came to power in the state in 2017 only one community was getting ration.
“Did you get ration before 2017?” Mr Adityanath asked the crowd he was addressing in Kushinagar town. “Earlier only those who used to say “Abba jaan [a term commonly used by Muslims to address their fathers]” were digesting the ration. The ration meant for Kushinagar went to Nepal and Bangladesh back then.”
Mr Adityanath was not only blatantly communal in his remark but also forgetful of the constitutional position he holds. Such a remark by the chief minister of India’s largest state could have serious repercussions on the law and order situation in the poll-bound state. However, Mr Adityanath’s remark was neither reprimanded nor condemned by any of the BJP’s top leadership.
“Will definitely provoke communal hatred”
In a shocking admission, BJP Telangana president Bandi Sanjay Kumar last month said that his party would “definitely provoke communal hatred” if the TRS continued to woo “a community that constituted 12 per cent of the electorate” — an obvious reference to Muslims. Sanjay Kumar did not stop at that. He said that after the BJP came to power in 2023, it would confiscate all of Nizam’s properties in the State and hand them over to the Hindu Samaj.
Sanjay Kumar said, “We have taken up the Praja Sangrama Yatra to focus on the issues faced by the people. Our party is being branded as one that is bent on provoking communal hatred and we will definitely do so if the TRS tries to cozy up to the outfits that represent Muslims.” The BJP leader was making a veiled reference to the AIMIM.
It should be noted that Mr Owaisi’s party is based out of Telangana.
A priest and his followers
Yati Narsinghanand Saraswati, the head priest of Dasna Devi temple, is now seen as one of the shrillest voices in the Hindutva ecosystem in western Uttar Pradesh. Relatively unknown outside Ghaziabad till recently, he is now frequently in the news for repeatedly calling for a “final war against Muslims”. Yati has time and again made incendiary speeches and blurted out poison against Muslim community. He, however, has not faced any action for his words that are very much capable of stoking violence. Although three FIRs were registered against him after he made indecent comments about women, including those in the BJP.
Many recent flashpoints in the national capital region, including the shouting of anti-Muslim slogans in Jantar Mantar in August, have been traced to Yati Narsinghanand who have identified as his followers or acknowledged being influenced by his speeches. Saraswati himself attended some of these controversial events. One such follower, BJP leader Ashwini Upadhyay, was arrested for the Jantar Mantar event, only to be released later on bail.
Constant vilification of Muslim community
The BJP’s rise to power in 2014 came in the backdrop of the Muzaffarnagar communal riots in the state of Uttar Pradesh. Many believe that it was just the beginning of the years of vilification of the community that would follow.
Muslims, throughout these years, have been blamed and targeted for many things like consumption or possesion of beef, running businesses in Hindu-dominated areas and marrying, eloping or just talking with a Hindu girl. The complete isolation of the India’s second largest religion from the mainstream has actively and openly been pursued by the Hindu fundamentalists for the last seven years, supported by the political class that thrives on such divisions without actually working for the welfare and development of all sections of the society as they promised (Remember Sab Ka Sath, Sab Ka Vikas?).
It is an outcome of such polarised discourse that a Muslim bangle seller gets beaten up in public view for doing business in Hindu-majority area, a 14-year Muslim kid gets beaten up for entering a temple to drink water, and an official residence of a Muslim MP is attacked without any fear.
Warning This is from Indore, MP.
A Muslim bangle seller was brutally beaten up by Hindu mob, they looted his goods as well. This incident happened when he was selling bangles door-to-door in a Hindu Majority area. #india #indore #indianmuslim #hindutva #fascism #islamophobia pic.twitter.com/ATztE8I6Qz— Ravinder Singh (@RavinderOffical) August 23, 2021
Except for once, when he said he was “pained” by the Jharkhand lynching incident, PM Modi has not openly criticised the growing anti-Muslim rhetoric by the Hindu right-wing outfits or his own party workers.
Legit question
Mr Owaisi is right when he questions who “radicalised” the attackers, for we have seen in the last few years that such acts have not always met with stringent punishment. Let alone being punished for attacking minorities, some of these members of fringe outfits get garlanded by BJP ministers after being released on bail. The main accused in Bulandshahr violence went on to win Panchayat elections and now eyes a full-time political career, probably with the same anti-Muslim theatrics that made him popular.
If the state and its machinery, which bears the responsibility of protecting all sections of the population, especially the weaker ones, stands by the perpetrators of violence against such sections, who could they turn to for help? If an MP’s house in the heart of the national capital can be vandalised in broad daylight just because he’s a Muslim, aren’t we supposed to feel ashamed being a “secular” republic?
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