Owaisi condemns killing, but with a rider

“I cannot sit here comfortably and condemn what has happened in Udaipur to that poor tailor but at the same time what has happened in Rajasthan few years ago or in Jaipur everything has to be condemned. Radicalisation has to be controlled. That is why I have demanded that anti-radicalisation cell in the MHA should be for every religion not only for one particular religion to monitor radicalisation that is happening in our country,” he added.

“It has to be condemned unequivocally without ifs and buts. It’s a gruesome horrorific crime that these people have done. No one has the right to take the law in their hands and do all this sort of nonsense which is barbaric,” said A Owaisi.

Kanhaiya Lal was at his shop in a particularly crowded market in Udaipur when two men entered it this afternoon. Minutes later, they attacked him with a knife. The killing was filmed; and the killers then gloated, also on camera, about how the tailor was murdered. The videos were posted on social media.

The Hyderabad MP said he is very disturbed by the killing as he has seen the visuals.

“At this point of time any violence has to be condemned. It has to be unequal condemnation. It’s not like today a gruesome murder has taken place and tomorrow something else happens and then we take a backseat. So there has to be condemnation for any violence done by anyone irrespective of caste, religion, or politician or whatever else it is. And this is what we have been demanding that the rule of law should prevail. The law should be equally applied to all perpetrators of violence,” he stressed.

Asked how the country has come to this stage, the MP said “it’s a very very long debate”. He also spotlighted the scanty Muslim representation in police and government.

“Look at the Muslim representation in police, look at the Muslim posting in police. How many Muslims are there in the Centre, becoming the ears and eyes of the government. These are things which the government at their level should look into,” he said.

Owaisi underlined that protests have to be within the boundaries of law and no one can take law in their hands.

“The only appeal that we have been consistently making is that violence will not take you anywhere. You will have to protest within the four walls of Constitution. That is what we have to do. At the same time we have to create confidence in the way that you have political leadership, you have political voices that are being heard and any violence must be condemned. The rule of law should prevail,” he said.