Hyderabad: AIMIM president and Hyderabad Lok Sabha MP Asaduddin Owaisi said on Friday that contrary to the BJP’s claims, the MIM was a successor to freedom fighters Turrebaaz Khan and Maulvi Allauddin and not Qasim Rizvi.
Owaisi was addressing a public rally after the party’s bike rally as part of TS national Integration Day celebrations.
Owaisi said Turrebaaz Khan and Maulvi Allauddin sacrificed their lives while fighting the British during the revolt of 1857, while Rizvi was the head of Razakar army. He asked the BJP not to create problems between Hindus and Muslims based on the narrative of calling MIM as descendants of Rizvi.
As part of the celebrations, MIM held a ‘Tiranga’ bike rally from Masjid-e Abubakar in Chandrayangutta, where all MIM MLAs and corporators offered prayers to Tegalkunta in Old City.
The MP said as per a report, about 40,000 Muslims were killed during
Operation Polo. However, he said the example he wanted to give of that day was that of Hindus saving the lives of Muslims by hiding them in their houses. He urged the youth to read history rather than spend time on phones or TikTok.
“People who did not even break a sweat for the independence movement are celebrating Liberation Day. We don’t want any certificates of loyalty from the BJP-RSS, it can be thrown in the dustbin,” he told the rally.
He questioned the Centre’s decision to declare the birthday of Raja Hari Singh, the last ruling king of Jammu and Kashmir, a public holiday, as Mahatma Gandhi had blamed the king for committing atrocities against Muslims.
The MIM chief said former Governor General of India C. Rajagopalachari wanted September 17 to be celebrated as National Thanksgiving Day, and slammed people who were terming it as ‘Liberation Day.'