Lucknow/Barabanki: AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi has been booked for allegedly vitiating communal harmony. It has also been alleged that he has made objectionable remarks against Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, and shown disrespect to the national flag, police said Friday. Two FIRs were registered against the All India Majlis-e-Itthehad-ul-Muslimeen (AIMIM) chief at Barabanki city police station Thursday night. It happened after his party’s public meeting in Katara Chandana Baradari.
The first FIR against Asaduddin Owaisi and public meeting organisers was registered under IPC sections 153A (promoting enmity on ground of religion, race, etc.), 188 (disregarding order of a public servant), 269 (negligent act likely to spread disease dangerous to life), 270 (malignant act likely to spread infection of disease) and the Epidemic Act was slapped against them, Barabanki SP Yamuna Prasad said.
Later Thursday night, another FIR was lodged against Owaisi for insulting the national flag during the public meeting, Kotwali in-charge Amar Singh said. He and his party members have been accused of wrapping the Tricolour on a pole at the dias during the meeting instead of unfurling it, Singh said.
Regarding the other sections imposed on Owaisi, the Barabanki SP said the Hyderabad MP violated Covid-19 guidelines – on masks and social distancing – by arranging huge crowds at the public meeting.
“In his speech, the AIMIM chief made statements for vitiating communal harmony and said the 100-year-old Ram Sanehi Ghat mosque was razed by the administration and its debris was also removed. This is contrary to the fact,” the SP said.
The mosque Owaisi referred to was located adjacent to the tehsil premises and opposite the SDM’s residence. It was demolished May 17 on the orders of a Barabanki SDM court.
Barabanki District Magistrate Adarsh Singh had said that the structure was illegal, and the tehsil administration got its possession March 18. He had said that the Lucknow bench of the Allahabad High Court had disposed of a petition filed in this connection April 2, which proved the construction was illegal.
“By his statement, Owaisi tried to vitiate communal harmony and incite feelings of a particular community. He also made indecent and baseless remarks against the PM and the Uttar Pradesh chief minister,” the Barabanki SP said Friday.
Owaisi was on a three-day trip to Uttar Pradesh, where his party plans to contest 100 seats in the upcoming Assembly polls.
During his stay, Owaisi held public meetings at Ayodhya, Sultanpur and Barabanki on three consecutive days starting Tuesday and left the state winding up his tour with a rally in Barabanki, on the doorsteps of capital Lucknow.