Owaisi questions RSS role in freedom struggle, cites Hedgewar’s jail term, rejects ‘Bangladeshi’ claims

AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi on Monday questioned the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh’s contribution to India’s freedom struggle and alleged that the organisation has no notable record of its leaders going to jail in the fight against British rule.

Addressing a rally here ahead of the municipal corporation elections scheduled on January 15, Owaisi asked whether any RSS leader had been imprisoned during the freedom movement.

“They claim RSS founder K B Hedgewar was jailed, but he went to prison in support of the Khilafat movement,” Owaisi said, while accusing the BJP and RSS of promoting hatred against Muslims.

Hedgewar, who later founded the RSS in 1925, is recorded to have taken part in the national movement in his early years including participation in the Non-Cooperation movement and later civil disobedience-related agitation in 1930 in an individual capacity, but Owaisi alleged the Sangh’s overall role in the freedom struggle was negligible.

The AIMIM leader also dismissed allegations of Bangladeshi migrants being present in the region, claiming the issue was being raised to advance a political agenda. He said if any Bangladeshi migrants were found in the area, it would indicate failure of the Narendra Modi government, which controls border management, intelligence and policing.

Owaisi criticised the Centre’s handling of border security, claiming the government failed to complete even a 10-km fence along the Bangladesh border. “China and ISI have reached Bangladesh, and BJP and RSS keep shouting ‘Bangladesh-Bangladesh’ here,” he alleged.

He appealed to citizens to vote in large numbers in the civic polls, stating that a strong turnout would also reflect public participation during the upcoming Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise in Maharashtra.

Owaisi further claimed that the authority to question citizenship lies with the Union Home Ministry under the Citizenship Act, but alleged that the Modi government has instead pushed the responsibility onto the Election Commission.

Meanwhile, former AIMIM MP Imtiaz Jaleel challenged Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde’s prediction that the party would be wiped out in the civic elections. Jaleel said he would shave his beard if the claim came true, but added Shinde should be prepared to do the same if it did not.