Muslims have been cheated in the name of secularism: Asaduddin Owaisi
Ayodhya (UP), Sep 7: AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi on Tuesday claimed that Muslims have been cheated in the name of secularism, and challenged Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav to a public debate on the issue.
Addressing a rally at Rasulabad village in Muslim-dominated constituency Rudauli ahead of the 2022 Uttar Pradesh assembly polls, Owaisi urged Muslims to not live in the shadows.
Sharpening his attack on the SP chief, Owaisi alleged that Akhilesh Yadav has always created fear among Muslims.
"Nineteen per cent (of voters) are Muslims and nine per cent are Yadavs, but the chief minister will be yours (of the Yadav clan) and we (Muslims) will not even get the job of a peon," the AIMIM chief said.
Without taking the name of Rudauli's SP leader Rushdi Miyan who lost to BJP candidate Ram Chandar Yadav in the 2017 UP assembly polls, Owaisi asked, "Why SP's Muslim candidate lost the election and the BJP's Yadav candidate won it. This means that Yadavs don't vote for Muslims."
Earlier in the day, jailed gangster and former MP Atiq Ahmad and his wife joined the AIMIM in the presence of Owaisi in Lucknow.
Owaisi inducted former Samajwadi Party leader Ahmad and his wife claiming that the SP and the Bahujan Samaj Party used Muslims as slaves in their parties.
Hitting out at Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and the SP chief, he alleged that Muslims have been betrayed in the name of secularism.
"Why do Muslims in Ayodhya feel ashamed or apprehensive to even talk about the Babri demolition. All political parties have exploited Muslims and Dalits. Our party will hold majlis in every household," he said at the rally here.
"Those who are helpless today are Muslims of UP. Everyone got a share in UP, but the Muslims of UP did not get their share. Muslims have been cheated in the name of secularism. We will field our candidate in Rudauli constituency," Owaisi said.
The venue of the rally was around 20 km away from Dhannipur, where a mosque is coming up pursuant to the Supreme Court verdict in the Ram Janmabhoomi case.
Owaisi, however, did not take the name of the mosque in his speech.
He alleged that other political parties do not want the Muslim leadership to develop in the country.
Talking about the controversy over referring to Ayodhya with its old name 'Faizabad', he said, "Some people started saying that I don't want to take the name of Ayodhya. I want to say that Ayodhya belongs to India. Faizabad belongs to India and Owaisi also belongs to India."
Owaisi said the AIMIM is going to contest 100 seats in the upcoming polls.
He said there is a vast difference between the Majlis of 2017 and the Majlis of 2022, referring to the next year's polls in the state.
"Now our organisation is strong. Our first effort is that our Muslim leadership should be developed in the biggest state of the country that is Uttar Pradesh," he added.
"We have been intimidated by (Prime Minister Narendra) Modi and Yogi (Adityanath), but we have come to defeat the BJP. People have lost their lives in the COVID-19 pandemic. People have died due to lack of oxygen. The dead bodies were buried on the banks of the river, which were scavenged by the dogs," he said.
Targeting the Centre, he said the government is worried about the education of women in Afghanistan, while there are no schools for girls in Rudauli constituency here.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
Rajnath to top commanders: Outmaneuver adversaries with strategic surprise
Jaipur/New Delhi (PTI): Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Friday directed the top military commanders of the three services to integrate an "element of surprise" into modern warfare to outmaneuver India's adversaries and bolster strategic posture.
In his address at the joint commanders conference in Jaipur, Singh also described the Operation Sindoor as a testament to the "swift, precise, and joint response" of the Indian armed forces to safeguard national interests and called upon the military to remain ready to deal with any security challenges.
In their two-day deliberations, the commanders carried out a comprehensive review of the combat preparedness of the military in the wake of the evolving regional security situation.
Operation Sindoor was a demonstration of India's growing capabilities and a symbol of the nation's collective resolve and new military ethos, Singh said, a day after the first anniversary of Operation Sindoor.
He also unveiled a 'Joint Doctrine for Integrated Communication Architecture' that is aimed at strengthening doctrinal clarity, interoperability and integrated communications across the armed forces in future multidomain operations.
The joint commanders' conference, themed 'Military Capability in New Domains', brought together the top leadership of the defence ministry and the three services to deliberate on emerging security challenges and future readiness.
Comprehensive deliberations were held on future warfare, multidomain operations, technological transformation and joint capability development.
The conference witnessed extensive discussions on cognitive warfare, cyber resilience against evolving quantum and AI-enabled threats, military capability development in emerging domains, indigenous innovation and AI-enabled warfighting concepts.
It was attended by Chief of Defence Staff Gen Anil Chauhan, Chief of the Naval Staff Admiral Dinesh Kumar Tripathi, Chief of the Army Staff Gen Upendra Dwivedi, Chief of the Air Staff Air Chief Marshal AP Singh and Defence Secretary Rajesh Kumar Singh among others.
In his remarks, Singh asked the commanders to remain "future-ready" by learning from the operation as well as the current global security landscape.
He underscored the need to strengthen capabilities in artificial intelligence, autonomous systems, data analytics and secure communication networks to stay prepared in the rapidly evolving geopolitical security scenario. He emphasised that future conflicts will increasingly be shaped by hybrid threats, information dominance and operations conducted simultaneously across cyber, space, electromagnetic and cognitive domains, according to an official readout.
Highlighting the transformative impact of emerging technologies, Singh stressed on the importance of ensuring integrated national preparedness across all spectrums of conflict, it said.
Singh's remarks at the conference came a day after the first anniversary of Operation Sindoor.
The defence minister appreciated the progress achieved in enhancing jointness, integration and technological adoption across the three services, the readout noted.
Singh said that jointness constitutes a pivotal dimension within the transformative changes sweeping across the global defence sector.
"Future wars will not be won solely through weaponry, but through innovative thinking and enhanced synergy," he said.
The defence minister exhorted the commanders to cultivate the "element of surprise" to remain unpredictable to the nation's adversaries and secure a strategic edge in any given situation.
He, however, urged them to remain vigilant of the element of surprise of the enemy and always stay two steps ahead.
Singh also reiterated the Narendra Modi government's commitment to enhancing the capabilities of the defence forces through state-of-the-art weapons and platforms. He added that special focus is being laid on research in niche domains.
During the conference, he released a documentary film on Operation Sindoor.
The film reaffirms the nation's and defence forces' commitment to operational preparedness and decisive national response capabilities.
Demonstrations of advanced systems and platforms developed for intelligence fusion, operational planning and information management were also showcased during the conference reflecting growing integration of cutting-edge technologies into joint operational structures, according to the defence ministry.
The discussions will contribute significantly towards shaping India's future military transformation and integrated operational preparedness, it said.
