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Akbaruddin Owaisi



 
Akbaruddin Owaisi (born 14 June 1970) is an Indian politician based in HyderabadAndhra Pradesh and anMLA of the Andhra Pradesh Legislative Assembly.[1] He belongs to All India Majlis-e Ittihad al-Muslimin and is its floor leader in Andhra Pradesh Legislative Assembly.[1]Akbaruddin is a member of the Owaisi family, being the son of Sultan Salahuddin Owaisi and the younger brother of Asaduddin Owaisi.
Owaisi is known for making inflammatory Islamistspeeches.[2][3][4] In 2007, he threatened to carry out thefatwa to kill Salman Rushdie and behead Taslima Nasreen if they ever visited Hyderabad.[2][4][5] In 2011, he said that he would have killed P V Narasimha Rao with his own hands had he not died.[3] In 2012, Owaisi made several speeches disparaging Hindus and Hindu beliefs, and on December 24, 2012, he said at Adilabad that the 250 million Muslims of India needed only 15 minutes without the police to show one billion Hindus of India who is more powerful.[6][7][8][9][10] Owaisi was arrested on on January 8, 2013, and was housed in the Adilabad district jail for 40 days before being released on bail on February 16, 2013.[11][12][13][14] He is under trial and is accused ofseditioncriminal conspiracy, spreading communal hatred, waging war against India and some other charges.[15]
Akbaruddin Owaisi was born in Hyderabad on 14 June 1970. He studied in the Hyderabad Public School till tenth grade and completed his intermediate from St. Mary's Junior College in Hyderabad.[4] Owaisi studied medicine for two years in Gulbarga but quit during his second year of MBBS course to enter politics.[4] In 1995, Owaisi married a Christian woman, who converted to Islam and took the name of Sabina Farzana. The marriage was opposed by his father Salahuddin Owaisi who refused to forgive Akbaruddin. Akbaruddin Owaisi and his father reconciled in 1998.[4]
Owaisi survived an attempt on his life in May 2011 when four persons associated with property dealer Mohammed Pehlwan attacked him over a property dispute.[1] Owaisi was stabbed and then shot thrice as he tried to run back to his car, and was later admitted in a critical state to the Owaisi Hospital in Hyderabad.[1] Supporters of Owaisi and Pehlwan had clashed two years earlier during May 2009 elections as well.[1]
Akbaruddin Owaisi is the managing director of Owaisi hospital which was setup by his late father Sultan Salahuddin Owaisi for the welfare of the Muslims.[citation needed]

[edit]Political careerAkbaruddin was first elected to the state Assembly in 1999 and served as a deputy to his elder brother Asaduddin Owaisi, who was leading the MIM in the House.[citation needed] In 2004, Akbaruddin became the floor leader of MIM in the Assembly upon Asaduddin’s election to Lok Sabha from Hyderabad.[citation needed] He was reelected in 2009 and now leads the seven-member MIM in the House.[citation needed]

In October 2012, Owaisi was accused of the murder of Ibrahim Younus Yafai and a murder case was booked against him by Chandrayangutta police.[16]

Controversial speeches

In August 2007, along with other elected and serving members of his party, Owaisi made death threats against Tasleema Nasreen,[17] pledging that the fatwa against her and Salman Rushdie were to be abided by.[5] Owaisi said, "we in Hyderabad want to behead this woman according to the fatwa."[2]
While speaking at a rally in Kurnool in 2011, Owaisi used the derogatory terms Kafirs and Kufrastan to refer to MLAs in Andhra Pradesh Legislative Assembly and the Legislative Assembly.[3] In the same rally he used the Urdu words katil (murderer), darinda (monster), beimaan (dishonest), dhokebaaz(cheat), and chor (thief) for the former Prime Minister of India P V Narasimha Rao. Owaisi said that if Rao had not died, he (Owaisi) would have killed Rao with his own hands.[3]
In April 2012, Owaisi made derogatory and demeaning comments against Hindu god Rama and his mother Kaushalya. Owaisi asked "Where all did Ram’s mother go wandering and where did she give birth to him".[3] This was met with loud cheers from the audience.[3]
In August 2012, Owaisi claimed while speaking in Karimnagar that there have been 50,000 riots in India over 65 years since the country became independent. He said that majority of those killed in the riots were Muslims.[3]
In September 2012, Owaisi said that he will not tolerate if the illegal Bangladeshi immigrants in India are sent back to Bangladesh.[18]
In November 2012, Owaisi spoke in Hyderabad, referring to the police force of Andhra Pradesh using the derogatory phrase "army of impotent people". He then incited the audience by challenging the Chief Minister to remove the police and then see who has more power. He further added that they (Hindus or the police force) do not have the courage to fight Muslims.[3] Owaisi claimed in another speech that "lakhs (hundreds of thousands) of Muslims were killed after Indian independence.[3]
On December 8, 2012, while speaking at Nizamabad, Owaisi made fun of Hindu festivals by saying "we (Muslims) have only two festivals, they have so many - one every 10 days." He referred to the Bhagyalakshmi temple in Hyderabad several times as "illegal temple".[3]
On December 12, 2012, Owaisi made derogatory remarks with hand gestures about Hindu goddessBhagyalakshmi at a public rally in Nizamabad.[3] He said making hand gestures - "She, who is sitting," and added, "What is this new name Bhagyalakshmi, never heard of her. Shout such slogans such that the Bhagya also shakes and Lakshmi also falls down." The crowd then shouted slogans ofAllahu Akbar.[3]

Speech at Adilabad

On December 24, 2012, Owaisi addressed a rally of twenty to twenty-five thousand people in the Nirmal town of Adilabad district of Andhra Pradesh. In his two-hour long speech, Owaisi made multiple comments against Hindus, Hindu deities, Rashtriya Swayamsevak SanghVishva Hindu Parishad,Bharatiya Janata PartyNarendra ModiIndia and United States of America.[6][7][8][9][10][12][19][20] In his speech, Owaisi said that the 250 million Indian Muslims needed only 15 minutes without the police to show one billion Hindus who is more powerful.[6][21] Punjab Kesari reported that Owaisi referred to the Hindus as "impotent" and the Indian police as the "impotent army".[20] He said that not even one crore impotent men can together father one child.[20] He said that these people (Hindus) cannot face the Muslims, and whenever the Muslims start dominating the Hindus, the impotent army (police) intervenes.[20][22][23][24] Owaisi said that "we (Muslims) will not let you (India or Hindus) live peacefully,"[25] and added that the Muslims could "teach the rest of the country a lesson".[12]
Owaisi referred to Ajmal Amir Kasab, one of the Pakistani militants of the 2008 Mumbai attacks, as a "child", and compared him with Narendra Modi. He asked if Kasab was hanged then why is Modi not hanged, and said that the reason was only because Kasab was a Pakistani and Modi is Indian. He said that if the Muslims of India united like the Muslims of Andhra Pradesh, Narendra Modi would soon be hanged.[8][9] Owaisi threatened that if his words were not heard, "O India, destruction and ruin will be your fate".[8][19] He threatened that India will witness a bloodshed which has not been seen in the last 1000 years.[19][26] He also dared Narendra Modi to come to Hyderabad, threatening by saying "we will show him then".[8] Owaisi justified the Mumbai bombings of 1993 by saying they were a reaction to the demolition of Babri Masjid and atrocities on Muslims in India.[8][20] He also questioned the punishment handed out to the accused of the bombings, naming Tiger Memon as one of those punished even though Tiger Memon is still at large.[8]
Owaisi denigrated Hindu gods in his speech.[12] Owaisi made derogatory comments against Hindu god Rama and his mother Kaushalya.[8] Questioning the birth and the birthplace of Rama, Owaisi asked "where all did Kaushalya go to give birth to Rama and where all did Rama take birth".[8][20]Owaisi mocked Hindu panentheism, saying that Hindus have many gods and goddesses, and every eight days, new gods keep coming up.[6][27] In a reference to the Bhagyalakshmi temple in Hyderabad, he said, "We knew about Lakshmi, but who is Bhagyalakshmi, we are not aware."[6][20]Owaisi mocked Hindu cremation by saying "when you (Hindus) die, you become air after burning and go astray."[3] Owaisi talked in derogatory terms about heritage places of India including Ayodhya,Ajanta caves and Ellora caves.[3]
Owaisi compared the state of Muslims of India to the state of Muslims of the world and blamed India and America for the same.[8] Owaisi said that the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, the Vishva Hindu Parishad, and the Bharatiya Janata Party were poisonous snakes, and to "crush their heads" a stick is enough.[8]
After the speech, Owaisi left for London citing "medical treatment" as the reason.[8] NDTV reported on January 3 that Owaisi was getting treated for intestinal injuries he sustained when he was attacked over a land dispute in 2011.[28] Owaisi returned to Hyderabad on January 7.[29]

Legal proceedings

On 28 December 2012, a lawyer K. Karunasagar filed a petition in a local court in Nampally of Hyderabad against Akbaruddin Owaisi.[30] Karunasagar asked the court to direct the police to register cases against Owaisi for hurting the sentiments of Hindus, and for making inflammatory, derogatory and offensive remarks.[7][30] Karunasagar received three death threats on the night of filing the petition.[30][31] Another petition was filed by a businessman S Venkatesh Goud in Hyderabad.[30] The Andhra Pradesh Human Rights Commission directed the Hyderabad Police Commissioner to submit an inquiry report on the alleged hate speech by January 17, 2013.[31] On January 3, 2013, Abid Khan, General Secretary of Andhra Pradesh Congress Committee, told news channel CNN IBN that the state government had "taken cognizance of speech" and they were "collecting evidence to build a strong FIR and a water-tight case where we can book the person causing hatred."[32] On January 3, the fourth additional chief metropolitan magistrate of the Nampally court directed the Andhra Pradesh police to register an FIR against Owaisi.[30] Following this, the police filed FIRs under three sections of the Indian Penal Code – 121 (attempting to wage war against Government of India), 153A (promoting enmity between groups) and 295A (outraging or insulting religion and religious feelings or beliefs) – against Owaisi in Hyderabad, Adilabad and Nizamabad.[30][33] The Director General of police V. Dinesh Reddy said that summons were issues to Owaisi and that the police would take the help of the Interpol to arrest him if required. He added that Owaisi would be barred from addressing public meetings in future.[30] On January 5, 2013, a case was filed against Owaisi in Mumbai while a court inVadodara served a notice on him for his alleged hate speech.[34][35]

Arrest

Owaisi returned to Hyderabad on January 7, 2013 and was welcomed by hundreds of supporters and MIM leaders at the Hyderabad airport.[30][36] He later drove to his house in the Banjara Hills area of the city.[36] Owaisi failed to answer police summons at Nirmal town on January 8, citing ill-health, and asked for four days' time to appear for investigation.[37] A team of doctors examined Owaisi at his home twice on January 7 and the police declared that he was fit for investigation, even though he complained of bad health.[38] Owaisi also petitioned the High Court of Andhra Pradesh to quash the cases filed against him in lower courts.[38] On January 8, doctors examined him at the Gandhi Hospital and confirmed that their tests showed no medical grounds to prevent his arrest, following which he was arrested by Hyderabad police.[12] At the Gandhi Hospital, Owaisi alleged that that the doctors were trying to murder him by giving lethal injections.[39] Owaisi was shifted to the Adilabad district jail where he is currently housed.[13] He is charged under seven sections of the Indian Penal Code which deal with sedition, criminal conspiracy, disobeying orders of a public servant, outraging religious feelings, public mischief, waging war against India and creating enmity between communities.[15]

Criticism

Several notable people and organizations criticized Owaisi for the speeches. The Andhra Pradesh Bharatiya Janata Party president, G. Kishan Reddy called for booking Owaisi, annulment of his assembly membership and de-recognition of All India Majlis-e Ittihad al-Muslimin.[31] Reddy said that "...religious bigotry, unabashed incitement of religious sentiments and contemptuous insinuation against Hindu gods and goddesses formed the crux of the speeches of a person who was sworn in as an MLA".[40] In a statement issued by the Confederation of Voluntary Associations (COVA) on December 30, several social activists criticized the speech saying that such "obnoxious" speeches will lead to division of society, violation of peace and conflicts. The social activists demanded exemplary action to prevent such "intolerable" acts in future.[40] The signatories to the statement included Asghar Ali EngineerSwami AgniveshMahesh BhattHamid Mohammed KhanSandeep Pandey and Ram Puniyani.[40] Journalist and BJP leader Balbir Punj said that Owaisi's speech was tantamount to inciting Muslims to revolt against the police and army and start a civil war, and he added that the silence of the media was surprising.[10] Asaduddin Owaisi, elder brother of Akbaruddin, refused to comment on the speech saying the matter is sub judice.[10] Congress politician Digvijay Singh said that everybody should think before speaking and demanded action against people making such speeches.[10] TV news channel Times Now reported that the speech was so inflammatory and so provocative that they had decided not to broadcast it.[10] A CNN IBN news report said Owaisi's speech virtually called on Muslims to take arms against the Hindus, and questioned the silence of the media and politicians for 10 days.[41] Najeeb Jung, vice-Chancellor of the Jamia Millia Islamiauniversity, told CNN-IBN that the police was giving excuses of backroom investigation, while it was only a matter of two-minutes to investigate since the "TV cutout" was available for everybody to see and contents of speech were available on Wikipedia for everybody to read.[41] Jung said that the speech incited incendiary feelings between two communities of an extremely serious nature, and refused to believe Owaisi was ill.[41] BJP spokesperson Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi said referring to Owaisi and his party that "in the political arena of Andhra Pradesh, one party has imbibed the ghost ofOsama bin Laden."[3]
The speech sparked anger and outrage on Twitter.[42] On December 28, journalists Karan Thapar andSwapan Dasgupta tweeted "Inflammatory speech by MLA Akbaruddin - Remove police for 15 mins, We will finish off 100 crore Hindus."[6] Writer Taslima Nasreen tweeted that Owaisi is trying to indoctrinate the Muslims of India and such speeches will "produce thousands of Kasabs".[22]Bollywood artiste Farhan Akhtar tweeted on January 2, 2012 "How can two girls be arrested in less than 24 hours for a harmless FB post, but Owaisi roams free after his blatantly communal rant."[41]




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