Hyderabad: All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) on Wednesday celebrated the 64th anniversary of its revival with party leader Akbaruddin Owaisi hoisting the party flag at Darussalam, the party headquarters here.
With party chief and Hyderabad MP Asaduddin Owaisi busy campaigning for ongoing Assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh, his younger brother and party leader in the Telangana assembly did the honours in the presence of party legislators, leaders and workers.
Speaking on the occasion, Akbaruddin Owaisi recalled how his grandfather Maulvi Abdul Wahed Owaisi strove hard to protect the rights of Muslims and other minorities enshrined in the Indian Constitution by reviving the party on this day in 1958 with a new party constitution.
He said undeterred by the atmosphere of fear and misery among the Muslims in the aftermath of Police Action in 1948, he took up the onerous task of organising the community and gave it a new hope.
Akbaruddin Owaisi paid rich tributes to his grandfather and father and former MP Sultan Salahuddin Owaisi and said it was due to their hard work and sacrifices that AIMIM grew into a major political force today and is now expanding across the country.
The AIMIM legislator said without the sacrifices of Abdul Wahed Owaisi and Sultan Salahuddin Owaisi, AIMIM would not have built a chain of medical and educational institutions and would not have reached to this stage.
Dismissing the allegation of AIMIM’s critics that it is a communal party, he read out a resolution that was passed at the first public meeting of the party on March 2, 1958, which condemned communal politics and stressed on the need for Hindu-Muslim unity.
Claiming that the party strongly believes in the nation’s secular democracy, Akbaruddin Owaisi said it continued to protect and enhance its quality by effective representation from local to national level.
He made it clear that the assets built by the party over last six decades are owned by Muslims of Deccan and that Asaduddin Owaisi and other leaders are mere custodians of these assets.
Akbaruddin Owaisi listed out the achievements of the party during last six decades and also the help rendered by it to victims of riots and natural calamities in various parts of the country. He also mentioned the works undertaken by the party to help poor during Covid-19 pandemic.
He claimed that no other political party in the country can show even one per cent of the work undertaken by AIMIM in the areas of education and healthcare.
AIMIM was working to build leadership in other states of the country to raise the voice of the oppressed and try to solve the problems of poor and weaker sections of society.
Akbaruddin Owaisi slammed Narendra Modi government for failing to fulfill its promises of creating jobs and for delivering ‘acchey din’.
He voiced concern over the hatred being spread across the country in the name of ‘Hijab’. “Every Indian has right to wear what he or she likes. Similarly, Muslim women and girls have right to wear hijab,” he said.
Referring to recent attack on Asaduddin Owaisi in Uttar Pradesh, Akbaruddin Owaisi said the history of the party show that its leadership is not scared of such attempts.
Stating that Muslims are equal partners in the country, he said AIMIM was leading the democratic fight to ensure that Muslims get their due rights enshrined in the Constitution of India.
He slammed the so-called opposition parties which need votes of Muslims but are not willing to work for their upliftment.– IANS
