By Kulsum Mustafa
“Those who are calling this near-fatal incident a political gimmick are not just insensitive, inhuman, they also appear to lack total knowledge about how firearms work,” said Syed Asim Waqar, national spokesperson of the All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM). Waqar was reacting to political opponents dismissing off Thursday’s incident in which AIMIM chief and Lok Sabha MP, Asaduddin Owaisi’s car was fired upon. The leader’s convoy was leaving Kithoor after the election campaign. It was around 6 pm when the convoy was on the Hapur-Ghaziabad stretch of the National Highway 24, near the Chhijarsi toll plaza when the incident took place. Owaisi tweeted that the assailants who had intended to kill him had fled after his party men chased them. The leader alleged that due to the firing his car tyres were punctured, but he managed to escape by shifting into another car of the convoy. Later the police arrested two assailants. Speaking in the Parliament on Friday about the incident Owaisi described the narrow escape as blessings and thanked Allah for it. He said that he did not want the Z category security but preferred to be an ‘A’ category citizen of the country.
Defending his leader and lambasting all those who said it was AIMIM’s way of drawing media attention, Waqar said, that those who issue such shallow statements would have been happy to see such a leader, who has the interest of the Muslims dead.
He said that if justice has to be done the two criminals who have been arrested and who have accepted that they intended to kill the AIMIM chief because they hated him must be charged under the unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA ). He said it is no small happening, a Member of Parliament has been attacked and the authorities must be concerned and take it seriously.
AIMIM is a new entrant to the UP polls. The party is viewed largely as the B team of the BJP in Uttar Pradesh political circles.
“Owaisi is just a game spoiler and has no presence in Uttar Pradesh,” says M H Khan, national spokesperson of Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP). He said that Owaisi is not going to get anywhere as the party has no hold in the state and that the party is only going to contest on 100 out of the 403 seats. Khan said the party has no presence even in Muslim majority Hyderabad too and knows that it has no knowledge about handling a state like Uttar Pradesh where Muslims are in minority. All that Owaisi can do is to create hurdles in way of those like the BSP, who are well-wishers of the minority. Khan said that this “shoot-out drama” is to get the sympathy votes of the minority.
An angry Waqar rubbishes such statements. According to him all those who are saying say that the positioning of the bullet spots, which are on the lower side of the car rim and thus it seems that the assailants were either a novice or they were not aiming at Owaisi are not well-wishers of the minority. He said it seems those who are saying so know very little about how pistols are used. The attackers wanted to slow down the car before they fired point-blank at Owaisi.
Calling Owaisi the brave son of Mother India, the spokesperson said that quick reaction by the security guards helped prevent a major tragedy.
Calling Owaisi the true messiah who has the love of the community at heart Waqar said AIMIM is a man of action and only fears Allah.
| Posted by Sameer Khan | 
