All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen president and Lok Sabha member from Hyderabad Asaduddin Owaisi on Saturday launched a scathing attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the BJP government at the Centre for announcing the Bharat Ratna award for senior BJP leader and former deputy prime minister L.K. Advani.
Owaisi, mocking the Bharat Ratna announcement, in a post on X (formerly Twitter), said: “Well-deserved Bharat Ratna for Advani. The graves of Indians who lost their lives in violence ar nothing but stepping stones.”
Later, speaking with reporters, Owaisi said Advani’s record was such that wherever Advani took his Rath Yatra, the places erupted with communal violence, followed by deaths. “Advani led the yatra to demolish Babri Masjid.
Hyderabad witnessed serious riots in which 30 people died; 47 died in Jaipur, while 58 died in Bijnor. Advani left in his wake death and destruction. And the sad part is the Modi government is giving such a man the country’s highest civilian award,” he said.
“What is the message that the government wants to give the nation? This is the man who visited the grave of Mohd Ali Jinnah in Pakistan and praised the man who was responsible for India’s partition. We believe that the decision is an insult to the award which was given to great people earlier. It is wrong, inappropriate and we believe that the Bharat Ratna award has been demeaned and we do not agree with the government’s decision,” Owaisi said.