Asaduddin Owaisi, President of the All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul’s retorted sharply to Akhilesh Yadav’s Jinnah comment.
On Akhilesh Yadav’s Jinnah comment, Asaduddin Owaisi MP from Hyderabad tore into Akhilesh Yadav’s remark and Owaisi, who curtly advised him to “read some history” and said, “If Akhilesh Yadav thinks that by giving such statements he can make a section of people happy, I think he is wrong and he should change his advisers. He should also educate himself and read some history.”
Akhilesh Yadav Samajwadi Party chief at Hardoi in Uttar Pradesh, while campaigning for the state election early next year said, “Sardar Patel, Mahatma Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru, and Jinnah studied at the same institute and became barristers. They became barristers and they fought for India’s freedom. They never backed away from any struggle.”
Asaduddin Owaisi added, “Akhilesh Yadav should understand that Indian Muslims have nothing to do with Muhammad Ali Jinnah. Our elders rejected the two-nation theory and chose India as their country.”
The comment also produced furore from the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh, Yogi Adityanath who demanded an apology from the Samajwadi Party chief and said, “His divisive mindset came to the fore once again when he tried to glorify Jinnah by equating Sardar Patel with him. It’s the Talibani mentality that believes in dividing. The Samajwadi national president should apologize for this.”
Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) chief Mayawati also hit out at Akhilesh Yadav, who was temporarily her ally for the 2019 national election. She alleged that Mr Yadav’s remarks and the BJP’s response to them were a strategy planned by both parties to polarise voters ahead of the Uttar Pradesh polls.
“The politics of the SP and BJP have been complementary to each other. Since the thinking of these two parties is casteist and communal, they depend on each other for their existence. That is why when SP is in power, the BJP becomes strong; when the BSP is in power, the BJP becomes weak,” said Mayawati.
Akhilesh Yadav also has been criticized by the BJP over his comments at a public rally, in which he takes the name of Jinnah in the same breath as Mahatma Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru, and Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel.
The BJP accused Mr Yadav of “Muslim appeasement” ahead of the polls.
Appeasement politics is thickly embedded in Indian politics and usually surfaces out during election campaigns, to be forgotten again in the tenure of time.