By IANS,
Hyderabad : Condemning Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi’s remarks at a public meeting here linking Hyderabad and terorrism, the Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (MIM) Tuesday demanded his arrest.
MIM submitted a memorandum to Andhra Pradesh chief electoral officer I.V. Subba Rao demanding the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader’s arrest.
Modi had said that Hyderabad is sitting on a powder keg and has terrorists more dangerous than those in Kashmir.
MIM said the remarks could create hatred among different communities and lead to law and order problems.
Earlier, MIM president and Hyderabad MP Asaduddin Owaisi alleged that Modi’s remarks made at an election rally Monday night were part of a conspiracy to weaken the Muslim leadership here.
“Modi’s aim is to weaken MIM and the Muslim leadership here and so he is trying to link the city with terrorism,” Owaisi told IANS.
“The Muslims in Hyderabad are prosperous and politically aware. Kerala and Andhra Pradesh are the only two states in India which have Muslim parties and Muslim leadership.
“Kerala was maligned in a systematic manner (giving impression) that it has become a den of terrorists. Now the image of Hyderabad is also being tarnished,” said Owaisi, who is seeking re-election from the Hyderabad Lok Sabha constituency.
He pointed out that all 16 Muslim youths arrested after the August 2007 twin bomb blasts here in which 50 people were killed were acquitted by the court.
Addressing a public meeting here Monday night, Modi said that Hyderabad and its twin city Secunderabad were sitting on a powder keg and that terrorist networks here were more dangerous than those in Kashmir.
Modi also said that a link to Hyderabad emerges whenever any terrorist incident occurs in Gujarat, Mumbai or elsewhere in the country.
State BJP leaders also voiced concern over the growing clout of MIM, which has been winning the Hyderabad seat for 25 years.
They said MIM could also play a key role in government formation in the state in the event of a hung assembly.