On 22nd April, All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) leader Akbaruddin Owaisi claimed that Prime Minister Narendra Modi called Indian Muslims ‘infiltrators’ (ghuspaithiye) in his recent speech. Owaisi went on to claim that India was, is and will always be the nation of those who gave the Taj Mahal, Qutub Minar, Jama Masjid etc to India.
Speaking at a public rally in Telangana’s Hyderabad, Owaisi said: “Are we [Muslims] infiltrators and people with many children?… Do you know how many siblings Atal Bihari Vajpayee had… Muslims are the people having many children and Vajpayee and his siblings were 7 in number… Yogi Adityanath and his siblings are 7 in number… Amit Shah and his siblings are also 7 in number. Narendra Modi and his siblings are 6 in number… We are those who have given the Taj Mahal, Qutab Minar, Red Fort, Jama Masjid and Char Minar to this nation. We have decorated this nation. We are not infiltrators. We belong to this nation. This nation is ours and will be ours.”
#WATCH | Hyderabad, Telangana: AIMIM leader Akbaruddin Owaisi addressed a public meeting and said, "Are we (Muslims) infiltrators and people with many children?… Do you know how many siblings Atal Bihari Vajpayee had… Muslims are the people having many children and Vajpayee… pic.twitter.com/2Aziq4QUrB
— ANI (@ANI) April 23, 2024
Contrary to Akbaruddin Owaisi’s claim that PM Modi called Indian Muslims infiltrators, the prime minister during his rally in Rajasthan on 21st April had said that the Congress party under its ‘wealth redistribution’ promise would redistribute the nation’s wealth among Muslims, intruders and those who have multiple children. However, PM Modi did not call Indian Muslims ‘ghuspaithiye’ but illegal immigrants while saying that Congress will redistribute wealth to both these sections.
It is worth noting that as per history scholars and inscriptions, Qutub Minar was allegedly built on the ruins of 27 Hindu and Jain temples. The pillars of the compound that houses Qutub Minar bear testimony to the fact that the structure was constructed after the demolition of Hindu and Jain complexes. As per notable historian Sita Ram Goel, there are over 40,000 sites across India where places of worship of Indic faiths were demolished and mosques were built upon them.
Notably, this is not the first time that AIMIM MLA Akbaruddin Owaisi has made controversial remarks. Back in 2012, Akbaruddin Owaisi made an inflammatory speech against Hindus. In his speech, he was seen taking many jibes at Hindu Gods and Goddesses while making an open challenge to Hindus for their survival if the police were to be removed for 15 minutes.