Beef-eating may be banned if MIM not voted in Hyderabad: Asaduddin Owaisi

HYDERABAD: Stirring a fresh controversy around beef, Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (MIM) president and Hyderabad MP Asaduddin Owaisi said the Muslim community in the city may face a ban on beef if his party did not come to power.

Addressing a huge gathering in the old city of Hyderabad on Monday ahead of elections to the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation, Owaisi cited the example of the BJP-Shiv Sena government bringing in an order banning beef in Mumbai.

Airing concerns over the safety of Muslims in the city, Owaisi cited the episode of the lynching of a Muslim in Uttar Pradesh's Dadri by fundamentalists for alleged beef-eating.

The statement by Owaisi, which was immediately condemned by BJP representatives, comes as an embarrassment to the ruling Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) party, which was alleged to have entered into a secret pact with MIM, eying the mayor's post.

Owaisi's statement comes also at a time when the key opposition parties ­ Congress and Telugu Desam Party ­ are promising safety to the settlers in Hyderabad citing alleged hate speeches by TRS leaders in the past against settlers. Condemn ing the statement of Owaisi, BJP's member of legislative council, N Ramchander Rao, said the MIM was attempting to instigate Muslims and polarise voters.

BJP's legislator form Hyderabad, T Raja Singh, who had opposed a beef festival organised by the Dalit students in Osmania University, said his party would go to any extent to protect the cow.

"We want votes of only those who protect and save the cow," he added.

Owaisi, who had supported the beef festival in Osmania University, also expressed his solidarity last week to the agitation by Dalit students in Hyderabad Central University, holding BJP leaders and ministers responsible for the alleged suicide of research scholar Rohith Vemula.