BJP dubs Owaisi as "Neo Jinnah", asks, 'Is he unable to understand what CAA is?'

Asserting that there was nothing anti-constitutional in the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), BJP national spokesperson Sambit Patra on Thursday slammed AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi for opposing it. Calling Owaisi "Instigator in Chief" and "Neo Jinnah", Patra accused him of wanting to score political brownie points on the issue.

Delivering a talk on 'Constitutional and moral imperatives of the CAA: Decoding the Polemics' organised by party's state unit here, the BJP leader stressed the need to explain the law to two people in Hyderabad  Owaisi and Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao. "One is Instigator in Chief and he is not an ordinary person, he is Neo Jinnah. His (Owaisi's) right hand and accomplice (AIMIM leader Waris Pathan) said 15 crore people (Muslims) can be tough on 100 crore majority population. But, did the Instigator in Chief regret for even 15 seconds?" he asked.

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Claiming that CAA was not meant to take away the rights of anyone, he said it was to provide Indian citizenship to persecuted religious minorities who fled Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Afghanistan. "Being a barrister, is he (Asaduddin Owaisi) not able to understand what CAA is? Is he not able to understand that CAA is not anti-Muslim, and not in any way discriminatory? Is he not able to understand that CAA is constitutional?" he asked.

Sambit Patra alleged that Owaisi wants to divide the country and his political bread bakes. Charging Owaisi with wanting to score political brownie points over CAA, the BJP leader said the AIMIM MP has no concern for India and that is the reason he was in Hyderabad to explain the truth. On Telangana government's decision to pass a resolution in the assembly against CAA, Patra said, "we will make him (Chandrasekhar Rao) understand by showing him all the relevant documents in a democratic manner."

Hitting out at Congress leaders, TMC Supremo Mamata Banerjee and Left parties for their opposition to the amended law, he said all of them had earlier sought for granting citizenship to persecuted minorities from Pakistan and Bangladesh. On the protests against CAA, he said, "this CAA we are discussing is the ninth amendment. There has never been ruckus earlier, but now there is and CAA is not the issue, the fight going on now is agenda-driven."

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Delhi HC issues notice 

Delhi High Court bench comprising of bench of Chief Justice D.N. Patel and Justice C. Hari Shankar on February 28 issued notices to the Union government, Delhi government and the Delhi police regarding multiple PILs seeking FIR against hate speech given by political leaders like Rahul Gandhi, Sonia Gandhi, Asaduddin Owaisi, Waris Pathan, Amanatullah Khan, and other political leaders.  

While the politicians were named in one PIL, another plea names activists like Harsh Mander, RJ Sayema, Swara Bhaskar seeking an FIR against them for hate speech during tense situations e.g anti-CAA violence. These pleas along with the previous plea seeking FIR against hate speech given by BJP leaders- Anurag Thakur, Parvesh Verma, and Kapil Mishra will be heard together on April 13.  

Earlier on Thursday, while hearing the plea by Harsh Mander seeking registration of FIRs for hate speech against BJP leaders Anurag Thakur, Parvesh Verma and Kapil Mishra, the Delhi High Court impleaded Ministry of Home Affairs to be the "necessary party." It has also given four weeks to the Union of India to file a counter affidavit in the matter. The plea has been adjourned till April 13. The order was dictated by a bench comprising of Chief Justice DN Patel and Justice C Hari Shankar.

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(with PTI inputs)