Owaisi faces heat over ‘anti-Hindu’ tweet

HYDERABAD: Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) members have gone all out to criticise a tweet by Majilis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) chief Asaduddin Owaisi where he quoted an opinion piece, presuming it to be a response by the Hyderabad MP himself.

On Monday, quoting women’s rights lawyer Flavia Agnes from an op-ed which criticised the triple talaq ordinance, Owaisi tweeted, “..abortions are primarily Hindus; that overwhelming number of married women who commit suicide or are brutally murdered for dowry are Hindus; that a majority of those who are deserted and become destitute in India as per the 2001 census report are Hindus.” He also shared the article, which largely criticises the BJP-led NDA government’s decision to criminalise triple talaq.

Following the tweet, Owaisi was largely slammed by social media before it was picked by news agencies and outlets. BJP Telangana spokesperson Krishna Sagar Rao termed Owaisi’s “mindset” as “exposed” and that the remarks were “archaic and misogynistic”.  Rao also said, “He seems to blinded by both his own fundamentalist mindset and lack of any basis to compare 84 per cent of the population with less than 15 per cent.” Former MLA T Raja Singh also jumped the bandwagon and slammed Owaisi’s “statements” in a video.

Speaking to Express, Owaisi said, “Well they should criticise Flavia, the renowned lawyer.” He also termed the media reports as a reflection of their “laziness”.

Last week, Owaisi termed the triple talaq ordinance as anti-muslim women and demanded a legislation aimed to protect Hindu women deserted by their husbands.