Akbaruddin Owaisi is a politician based in Hyderabad, Telangana and an MLA of the Telangana
Legislative Assembly. He belongs to All India Majlis-e Ittihad al-Muslimin and is its floor
leader in Telengana Legislative Assembly. Akbaruddin is a member of the Owaisi family,
the son of Sultan Salahuddin Owaisi and the younger brother of Asaduddin Owaisi.
Early and Personal life Akbaruddin Owaisi was born in Hyderabad on
14 June 1970. He studied in the Hyderabad Public School till tenth grade and completed
his intermediate from St. Mary's Junior College in Hyderabad. Owaisi studied medicine for
two years in Gulbarga but quit during his second year of MBBS course to enter politics.
In 1995, Owaisi married a Christian woman(Sabina), who converted to Islam and took the name of
Sabina Farzana. The marriage was opposed by his father Salahuddin Owaisi who refused to
forgive Akbaruddin. Then Akbaruddin Owaisi and his father reconciled in 1998. The couple
has one daughter Fathima and son Nooruddin. Akbaruddin Owaisi is the managing director
of Owaisi hospital, which was set up by his late father Sultan Salahuddin Owaisi for the
welfare of the Muslims. Political career
Akbaruddin has been elected as the Member of the Legislative Assembly for Chandrayangutta
constituency on four consecutive occasions, in 1999, 2004,2009 and 2014. He served as
a deputy to his elder brother Asaduddin Owaisi, who was leading the MIM in the House. In 2004,
Akbaruddin became the floor leader of MIM in the Assembly upon Asaduddin's election
to Lok Sabha from Hyderabad. He was re-elected in 2009 and lead the seven-member MIM in the
House. Akbaruddin Owaisi won his fourth consecutive victory in Assembly polls from Chandrayangutta
assembly. Attack on Akbaruddin
Owaisi survived an attempt on his life in May 2011 when four persons associated with
property dealer Mohammed Pehlwan attacked him over a property dispute. Owaisi was stabbed
and then shot thrice as he was sitting in his jeep, and was later admitted in a critical
state to the Owaisi Hospital in Hyderabad. Supporters of Owaisi and Pehlwan had clashed
two years earlier during May 2009 elections as well.
While defending himself from the attackers, Owaisi's body guard shot Ibrahim Younus Yafai
and a murder case was booked against him by Chandrayangutta police.
On May 18, 2014 Bangalore police have reportedly busted a plot to assassinate Akbaruddin Owaisi,
a leader of political party All India Majlis-e Ittihad al-Muslimin, and arrested four persons
who had been allegedly hired to kill him. Controversial speeches
In August 2007, along with other elected and serving members of his party, Owaisi made
death threats against Tasleema Nasreen, pledging that the fatwa against her and Salman Rushdie
were to be abided by. Owaisi said, "we in Hyderabad want to behead this woman according
to the fatwa." While speaking at a rally in Kurnool in 2011,
Owaisi used the derogatory terms Kafirs and Kufrastan to refer to MLAs in Andhra Pradesh
Legislative Assembly and the Legislative Assembly. In the same rally he used the Urdu words katil,
darinda, beimaan, dhokebaaz, and chor for the former Prime Minister of India P V Narasimha
Rao. Owaisi said that if Rao had not died, he would have killed Rao with his own hands.
In April 2012, Owaisi made derogatory and demeaning comments against Hindu god Rama
and his mother Kaushalya. Owaisi asked "Where all did Ram's mother go wandering and where
did she give birth to him". This was met with loud cheers from the audience.
In August 2012, Owaisi claimed while speaking in Karimnagar that there have been 50,000
riots in India over 65 years since the country became independent. He said that majority
of those killed in the riots were Muslims. In November 2012, Owaisi spoke in Hyderabad,
referring to the police force of Andhra Pradesh using the derogatory phrase "army of impotent
people". He then incited the audience by challenging the Chief Minister to remove the police and
then see who has more power. He further added that they do not have the courage to fight
Muslims. Owaisi claimed in another speech that "lakhs of Muslims were killed after Indian
independence. On 8 December 2012, while speaking at Nizamabad,
Owaisi made fun of Hindu festivals by saying "we have only two festivals, they have so
many – one every 10 days." He referred to the Bhagyalakshmi temple in Hyderabad several
times as "illegal temple". On 12 December 2012, Owaisi made derogatory
remarks with hand gestures about Hindu goddess Bhagyalakshmi at a public rally in Nizamabad.
He said making hand gestures – "She, who is sitting," and added, "What is this new
name Bhagyalakshmi, never heard of her. Shout such slogans such that the Bhagya also shakes
and Lakshmi also falls down." The crowd then shouted slogans of Allahu Akbar.
Speech at Adilabad On 22 December 2012, Owaisi addressed a rally
of twenty to twenty-five thousand people in the Nirmal town of Adilabad district of Andhra
Pradesh. In his two-hour long speech, Owaisi made multiple comments against Hindus, Hindu
deities, Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, Vishva Hindu Parishad, Bharatiya Janata Party, Narendra
Modi, India and United States of America. In his speech, Owaisi said that the 250 million
Indian Muslims needed only 15 minutes without the police to show one billion Hindus who
is more powerful. Punjab Kesari reported that Owaisi referred to the Hindus as "impotent"
and the Indian police as the "impotent army". He said that not even one crore impotent men
can together father one child. He said that these people cannot face the Muslims, and
whenever the Muslims start dominating the Hindus, the impotent army intervenes. Owaisi
said that "we will not let you live peacefully," and added that the Muslims could "teach the
rest of the world a lesson". Owaisi referred to Ajmal Amir Kasab, one of
the Pakistani militants of the 2008 Mumbai attacks, as a "child", and compared him with
Narendra Modi. He asked if Kasab was hanged then why is Modi not hanged, and said that
the reason was only because Kasab was a Pakistani and Modi is Indian. He said that if the Muslims
of India united like the Muslims of Andhra Pradesh, Narendra Modi would soon be hanged.
Owaisi threatened that if his words were not heard, "O India, destruction and ruin will
be your fate". He threatened that India will witness a bloodshed which has not been seen
in the last 1000 years. He also dared Narendra Modi to come to Hyderabad, threatening by
saying "we will show him then". Owaisi justified the Mumbai bombings of 1993 by saying they
were a reaction to the demolition of Babri Masjid and atrocities on Muslims in India.
He also questioned the punishment handed out to the accused of the bombings, naming Tiger
Memon as one of those punished even though Tiger Memon is still at large.
Owaisi denigrated Hindu gods in his speech. He repeated the derogatory comments on the
Hindu god Rama and his mother Kaushalya which he made in April 2013. Owaisi mocked Hindu
panentheism, saying that Hindus have many gods and goddesses, and every eight days,
new gods keep coming up. In a reference to the Bhagyalakshmi temple in Hyderabad, he
said, "We knew about Lakshmi, but who is Bhagyalakshmi, we are not aware." He added that he does not
want to ruin the gathering by taking "abominable names" of Hindu gods. Owaisi mocked Hindu
cremation by saying "when you die, you become air after burning and go astray." Owaisi talked
in derogatory terms about heritage places of India including Ayodhya, Ajanta caves and
Ellora caves. He said that if Muslims go away from India, they will take the Taj Mahal,
Red Fort and Qutb Minar with them, adding "What will then remain here? Just a razed
Ram temple in Ayodhya and naked statues of Ajanta."
Owaisi compared the state of Muslims of India to the state of Muslims of the world and blamed
America for the same. Owaisi said that the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, the Vishva Hindu
Parishad, and the Bharatiya Janata Party were poisonous snakes, and to "crush their heads"
a stick is enough. After the speech, Owaisi left for London citing
"medical treatment" as the reason. NDTV reported on 3 January that Owaisi was getting treated
for intestinal injuries he sustained when he was attacked over a land dispute in 2011.
Owaisi returned to Hyderabad on 7 January. Legal proceedings
On 28 December 2012, a lawyer K. Karunasagar filed a petition in a local court in Nampally
of Hyderabad against Akbaruddin Owaisi. Karunasagar asked the court to direct the police to register
cases against Owaisi for hurting the centiments of Hindus, and for making inflammatory, derogatory
and offensive remarks. Karunasagar received three death threats on the night of filing
the petition. Another petition was filed by a businessman S Venkatesh Goud in Hyderabad.
The Andhra Pradesh Human Rights Commission directed the Hyderabad Police Commissioner
to submit an inquiry report on the alleged hate speech by 17 January 2013. On 3 January
2013, Abid Khan, General Secretary of Andhra Pradesh Congress Committee, told news channel
CNN IBN that the state government had "taken cognizance of speech" and they were "collecting
evidence to build a strong FIR and a water-tight case where we can book the person causing
hatred." On 3 January, the fourth additional chief metropolitan magistrate of the Nampally
court directed the Andhra Pradesh police to register an FIR against Owaisi. Following
this, the police filed FIRs under three sections of the Indian Penal Code – 121, 153A and
295A – against Owaisi in Hyderabad, Adilabad and Nizamabad. The Director General of police
V. Dinesh Reddy said that summons were issues to Owaisi and that the police would take the
help of the Interpol to arrest him if required. He added that Owaisi would be barred from
addressing public meetings in future. On 5 January 2013, a case was filed against Owaisi
in Mumbai while a court in Vadodara served a notice on him for his alleged hate speech.
In May 2014,Andhra Pradesh government gave nod to prosecute Akbaruddin Owaisi in a 2004
case for an alleged hate speech. Arrested
Owaisi returned to Hyderabad on 7 January 2013 and was welcomed by hundreds of supporters
and MIM leaders at the Hyderabad airport. He later drove to his house in the Banjara
Hills area of the city. Owaisi failed to answer police summons at Nirmal town on 8 January,
citing ill-health, and asked for four days' time to appear for investigation. A team of
doctors examined Owaisi at his home twice on 7 January and the police declared that
he was fit for investigation, even though he complained of bad health. Owaisi also petitioned
the High Court of Andhra Pradesh to quash the cases filed against him in lower courts.
On 8 January, doctors examined him at the Gandhi Hospital and confirmed that their tests
showed no medical grounds to prevent his arrest, following which he was arrested by Hyderabad
police. At the Gandhi Hospital, Owaisi alleged that the doctors were trying to murder him
by giving lethal injections. Bail
After spending 40 days in prison, Akbaruddin Owaisi was granted bail on 15 February 2013.
The court approved bail for Owaisi on health grounds on a bond of Rs 10,000 and two sureties.
However, Owaisi will have to wait for bail in another case of hate speech in a court
in Nirmal town of Adilabad district. In both courts, his voice was recorded and sent for
forensic examination as people had claimed that the voice in footage was his.
Criticism and Comments Several notable people and organisations criticised
Owaisi for the speeches. The Andhra Pradesh Bharatiya Janata Party president, G. Kishan
Reddy called for booking Owaisi, annulment of his assembly membership and de-recognition
of All India Majlis-e Ittihad al-Muslimin. Reddy said that "...religious bigotry, unabashed
incitement of religious sentiments and contemptuous insinuation against Hindu gods and goddesses
formed the crux of the speeches of a person who was sworn in as an MLA". In a statement
issued by the Confederation of Voluntary Associations on 30 December, several social activists criticised
the speech saying that such "obnoxious" speeches will lead to division of society, violation
of peace and conflicts. The social activists demanded exemplary action to prevent such
"intolerable" acts in future. The signatories to the statement included Asghar Ali Engineer,
Swami Agnivesh, Mahesh Bhatt, Hamid Mohammed Khan, Sandeep Pandey and Ram Puniyani. Journalist
and BJP leader Balbir Punj said that Owaisi's speech was tantamount to inciting Muslims
to revolt against the police and army and start a civil war, and he added that the silence
of the media was surprising. Senior Congress Leader and National Spokesperson Raashid Alvi
said, "I don't know what Akbar said in his speech and i don't think he said what you
just mentioned, but i am sure that Andra Pradesh Government will do the needful". Asaduddin
Owaisi, elder brother of Akbaruddin, refused to comment on the speech saying the matter
is sub judice. Congress politician Digvijay Singh said that everybody should think before
speaking and demanded action against people making such speeches. TV news channel Times
Now reported that the speech was so inflammatory and so provocative that they had decided not
to broadcast it. A CNN IBN news report said Owaisi's speech virtually called on Muslims
to take arms against the Hindus, and questioned the silence of the media and politicians for
10 days. Najeeb Jung, vice-Chancellor of the Jamia Millia Islamia university, told CNN-IBN
that the police was giving excuses of backroom investigation, while it was only a matter
of two-minutes to investigate since the "TV cutout" was available for everybody to see
and contents of speech were available on Wikipedia for everybody to read. Jung said that the
speech incited incendiary feelings between two communities of an extremely serious nature,
and refused to believe Owaisi was ill. BJP spokesperson Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi said referring
to Owaisi and his party that the spirit of Osama bin Laden had entered into such people
and they were trying to behave like the Taliban. The speech sparked anger and outrage on Twitter.
On 28 December, journalists Karan Thapar and Swapan Dasgupta tweeted "Inflammatory speech
by MLA Akbaruddin – Remove police for 15 mins, We will finish off 1 billion Hindus."
Writer Taslima Nasreen tweeted that Owaisi is trying to indoctrinate the Muslims of India
and such speeches will "produce thousands of Kasabs". Bollywood artiste Farhan Akhtar
tweeted on 2 January 2013 "How can two girls be arrested in less than 24 hours for a harmless
FB post, but Owaisi roams free after his blatantly communal rant.".
References
External links Official Website
Akbaruddin Owaisi on Facebook