Asaduddin Owaisi slams Imran Khan for 'preaching' religious tolerance to India

AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi has slammed Pakistan Prime Minister for his comment in which he said he will "show" the Narendra Modi government "how to treat minorities".

AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi. (FILE PIC)

NEW DELHI: AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi has slammed Pakistan Prime Minister for his comment in which he said he will "show" the Narendra Modi government "how to treat minorities". Taking to Twitter, the Hyderabad MP said that Pakistan should learn from India which has seen multiple Presidents from oppressed communities whereas in the neighbouring country only a Muslim can become a President. "According to the Pakistani Constitution, only a Muslim is qualified to be President. India has seen multiple Presidents from oppressed communities. It's high time Khan sahab learns something from us about inclusive politics & minority rights," Owaisi tweeted. Addressing an event in Lahore on Saturday, Khan, referring to actor Naseeruddin Shah's remarks on mob violence in India, said, "We will show the Modi government how to treat minorities. Even in India, people are saying that minorities are not being treated as equal citizens." Naseeruddin Shah had expressed concern over "intolerance" in the country while referring to the killing of a policeman in a mob violence, triggered by alleged cow slaughter, in Bulandshahr earlier this month. Earlier, the BJP lashed out at Khan over his barb at India on treatment of minorities, terming his country "a land of atrocities against minorities" who have been "persecuted" there since its birth in 1947. Minorities Affairs Minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi used a Hidni proverb and described Khan's comments as a case of a cat going on a pilgrimage after eating 100 mice (Sau chuhe khake bill Haj ko chali). In hard-hitting remarks against Pakistan, Naqvi said that number of minorities like Hindus, Sikhs and Christians have fallen by almost 90 per cent in that country since its birth in 1947 as they were hounded by Islamic fundamentalists in collusion with its government. Unlike Pakistan, where minorities were killed, forced to convert or persecuted out of the country, in India they have grown and are an equal partner in development, Naqvi asserted. In the neighbouring country, minorities are barely two to three per cent of its population, he said.