AIMIM President Asaduddin Owaisi on Sunday said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi was only paying lip service by saying minorities live in fear as he and his party BJP had been "practicing hypocrisy" for five years.

A day after the Prime Minister stated that minorities live in fear and called for removing it, Owaisi said Modi was not giving a message but "stood exposed with the hypocrisy and contradictions".

If Modi stops gangs which are killing and beating Muslims in the name of cows, the fear among minorities will go away, he told reporters here.

Referring to the latest incident of beating up of a Muslim in Madhya Pradesh by cow vigilantes, Owaisi said the BJP's victory had further emboldened these organisations and nobody could stop them.

The All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) chief said as the Prime Minister who takes oath on Constitution, Modi should know that right to life is for human beings and not for animals.

"If the Prime Minister understands this basic thing of Constitution that right to life is for the human being, I am sure the fear will go away but BJP does not appreciate fundamental rights.

"If the PM seriously feels minorities live in fear, will he stop all these gangs who in the name of cow, kill and beat Muslims, take out videos and demean us," said Owaisi terming these gangs as "bhasmasur".

Noting that those who killed Akhlaq in the name of cow-killing were sitting on front bench in BJP public meetings, he also sought to remind Modi that one of his newly-elected MPs (Sadhvi Pragya Thakur) called Nathuram Godse a nationalist and she was also an accused in Malegaon blast in which six Muslims were killed.

"If the Prime Minister seriously believes Muslims live in fear, I hope the RSS and the BJP will stop saying Muslims are appeased. If they are living in fear, will the PM ensure that the minority character of Jamia Millia Islamia and Aligarh Muslim University will not be disturbed," he asked.

--IANS

ms/vd

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)