‘Modi govt has not learned from election results’: Asaduddin Owaisi questions UAPA

AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi (HT File Photo)

All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) supremo Asaduddin Owaisi on Saturday raised his concerns over the future of Muslims, tribals and Dalit people who are being held under Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA). Taking a jibe, the Hyderabad MP said he hoped that Prime Minister Narendra Modi would learn something from the Lok Sabha election results, but they poured cold water on his expectation

"The UAPA law is in the news again today. This is an extremely ruthless law due to which thousands of Muslim, Dalit and tribal youth were imprisoned and their lives were ruined," Owaisi said in a post on X.

The AIMIM chief further claimed that the stringent law became the reason for the death of 85-year-old Stan Swamy. Swamy, a tribal activist, died in judicial custody in 2021. He was arrested under the UAPA in connection with the 2018 Bhima-Koregaon violence case.

Owaisi objected to the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Amendment Act Bill 2019 in the Lok Sabha and blamed Congress for enacting the UAPA law.

"This law was made even more stringent by the Congress government in 2008 and 2012, I had opposed it even then. In 2019, when the BJP again brought more stringent provisions and exemptions, the Congress supported the BJP. I had opposed this law even then," he said.

"We hoped from Modi 3.0 that he would learn something from the election results but they poured cold water on our expectations. This series of atrocities and excesses will continue," he added.

Earlier this week, Delhi lieutenant governor VK Saxena has approved the prosecution of Booker-winning author Arundhati Roy and former Professor of international law at the Central University of Kashmir, Sheikh Showkat Hussain, in a case relating to their alleged provocative speeches at a public function in 2010.

The first information report (FIR) in the case was registered on November 28, 2010 on the directions of the metropolitan magistrate for the offences of sedition, promoting enmity between different groups on the grounds of religion, race, place of birth, residence and language, with imputations and assertions prejudicial to national integration, officials at the LG secretariat said.

Roy and Hussain had allegedly made provocative speeches at a conference organised under the banner of "Azadi - The Only Way" on October 21, 2010 at LTG Auditorium, Copernicus Marg, New Delhi. The issues discussed and spoken about at the conference allegedly propagated the "separation of Kashmir from India".

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