Hyderabad: Asaduddin Owaisi aghast at rights activists' silence on atrocities on women

Hyderabad: All-India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) chief Asaduddin Owaisi said that the 'so-called' human rights supporters talking about injustice to women in Afghanistan were silent on the atrocities in the country. He questioned their silence on the recent Kanpur incident in UP where a girl was begging for mercy when her father was being beaten up in the presence of police.

The Hyderabad MP was addressing a meeting at a mosque in the Old City late on Thursday on the eve of 'Yaum-e-Ashura' which marks the martyrdom of Imam Hussain.

Owaisi said, "For the last few days all TV channels were talking about Afghanistan. When I was asked about Afghanistan, I said talk about Kanpur not Kabul. In Kanpur, a nine-year-old girl was begging for mercy when her father was being beaten up in the presence of police.

These so-called human rights supporters are concerned about girls in Kabul and are talking about atrocities on women there, but nobody is bothered about the Kanpur girl. They don't talk about the widows of Akhlaq, Tabrez, Pehlu Khan and Aleemuddin Ansari," referring to the men lynched by mobs of cow vigilantes.

The Hyderabad MP said that according to one report, one out of nine girls die before reaching the age of five in the country, but nobody was concerned about it.

"There are atrocities and crimes against women here. But they (human rights supporters) are worried about what is happening to women in Afghanistan. Isn't it happening here?" Owaisi asked.

The governments of Vajpayee, Manmohan Singh and Modi invested 3 billion dollars in Afghanistan. The Afghan Parliament was built at a cost of Rs 700 crore and it was jointly inaugurated by Modi and former Afghan President Ashraf Ghani. Nobody responds to the question about the taxpayers' money spent by India in Afghanistan, he added.

Owaisi said since 2013 he had been drawing the attention of the successive Indian governments that Taliban will re-organise and may come back to power and therefore talks should be held with them. "We have nothing to do with Afghanistan or Taliban, but we drew their attention in view of the possible threat to India's security in future to which nobody paid attention."

He said after the Taliban came to power, Al-Qaeda and ISIS terrorists started shifting to remote parts of Afghanistan. He claimed that ISI, which is India's enemy, is controlling the Taliban and China is trying to take advantage of this situation. He reiterated that China has occupied Indian territory, but those in power are not worried.

Owaisi said a Samajwadi Party MP was booked for sedition for making a statement about the Taliban, but his own party chief and other leaders were silent. "We don't agree with his statement, but their double standards are unfortunate. They need votes of Muslims, but they will not stand with them in the event of any injustice," the AIMIM leader added.