AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owai on Monday said that PM Narendra Modi’s jibe at Muslims having more children is a ‘lie’. Owaisi equated PM Modi’s six siblings to his own six children as he condemned him for stereotyping Muslims in a recent speech.
Speaking at a campaign event in Bihar, the Member of Parliament from Hyderabad expressed his desire to analyze Prime Minister Modi’s speech in Rajasthan, where he criticized the Congress manifesto and brought up a previous comment made by former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh claiming that the Congress government appeased the Muslims through their policies.
Owaisi refuting PM Modi’s claims, stated, “Modi said Muslims have more children. That is a lie. Fertility rate has declined in the community and, according to official data, it is 2.36 per cent. Though, admittedly, the fertility rate is lower among our Hindu brethren.”
Owaisi alleged that the prime minister “told a lie, as he has always done” at the Banswara rally, further calling the remarks ‘divisive’.
Further Owaisi explained the population growth geographically, as he said, “Going by Modi’s logic, the southern states may start agitating over having fewer MPs in Parliament, just because population growth is less rapid there, though these states contribute more to the GDP than the north”.
The AIMIM chief said “I may be taunted for having six children. But what about Modi, who has six siblings and his party colleagues like Amit Shah and Ravi Shankar Prasad, both of whom were born in large families?”
Owaisi criticized Modi for using the term “ghuspaithiye” (infiltrators), calling it an ‘insult’ to the residents of the Seemanchal region in Bihar, which is near Bangladesh and Nepal.
He asserted that the government has consistently failed to provide information on undocumented immigrants in Parliament.
The AIMIM chief also said, “The Prime Minister indulges in dog-whistling against Muslims in his own country while holding his counterparts in places like Dubai in a warm embrace, with greetings of Ya Habibi (my dear)!”
Claiming that many attempts have been made in this country to finish off Muslims, he said the British tried this and “we drove them out”.
“In the riots that took place in Bhagalpur, Muslims were slaughtered and crops were grown on their graves. Yet, the community is still surviving in that city.
Owaisi further spoke about Gujarat riots and said, “Modi should also remember the example of his home state of Gujarat where Muslims have survived the genocide that took place under his watch.”
The AIMIM has announced that it plans to compete in more than 12 constituencies in Bihar.
The state unit leader and MLA Akhtarul Iman is running for office in the Kishanganj constituency, which has a majority Muslim population and includes areas of Purnea.
(With inputs from agencies)
