The AIMIM’s Asaduddin Owaisi has said he suspects the government will use force to clear Delhi’s Shaheen Bagh of protesters, who have been agitating against the amended citizenship act for more than 50 days now.
The All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen chief spoke to news agency Asian News International over the phone from Hyderabad.
Asaduddin Owaisi was asked whether there are indications from the government that Shaheen Bagh will be cleared after February 8, when the Delhi assembly elections will be held.
“Might be they will shoot them. They might turn Shaheen Bagh into Jallianwala Bagh. This might happen. A BJP minister gave a statement to ‘shoot a bullet’. The government must give an answer as (to) who is radicalising,” he said while speaking to ANI.
Owaisi was referring to the colonial-era massacre in Amritsar’s Jallianwala Bagh on April 13, 1919, when some 50 British Indian army soldiers shot at unarmed civilians who were taking part in a peaceful protest against oppressive laws enforced in the Punjab region.
And, the “shoot a bullet” was for the comment by Union minister Anurag Thakur, who allegedly prompted a crowd, saying “desh ke gaddaron ko… (traitors of the country…),” to which the crowd responded with “goli maaron … (shoot them…)” while campaigning in Delhi’s Rithala on January 27.
The minister of state for finance Anurag Thakur had also said Shaheen Bagh will be cleared once the Bharatiya Janata Party comes to power in Delhi after the February 8 polls.
The protest in the colony in southeast Delhi has also become the main poll issue with several leaders of the BJP, led by Union home minister Amit Shah, describing the protests at Shaheen Bagh as being against the national interests and attacking Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal over it.
Owaisi also spoke about the National Population Register (NPR) and the proposed all-India National Register of Citizens (NRC).
“The government must give a clear cut answer that till 2024 NRC will not be implemented. Why are they spending Rs 3900 crore for NPR?” he asked.
“I feel this way because I was a history student. Hitler during his reign conducted the census twice and after that, he pushed the Jews in a gas chamber. I don’t want our country (to) go in that way,” he said.
