Days after the controversial speech, former MLA from Mumbai’s Byculla and All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) leader Waris Pathan was booked on Saturday.
According to India Today, an FIR was filed against Waris Pathan by Karnataka's Kalaburagi police under sections 117 (abetting commission of an offence by the public), 153 (provocation with intent to cause riot) and 153A (promoting enmity between different groups) of the Indian Penal Code.
The AIMIM leader while addressing an event against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) said that, “We are just 15 crore, but we can be heavy on the 100 crore,” referring to the Muslim and Hindu population in the country, respectively.
“We have to go out and seek freedom together. We are those who are asking for freedom. If we don’t get it, we will snatch it! The time has come. They are saying, we are sending our sisters out, we are sending the women. Arre bhai, only the lionesses have come out, and your people are sweating. Imagine if we came out together,” Pathan said during the event.
After Pathan's comment, a huge political storm erupted. While the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena leader Bala Nandgaonkar has issued an open threat to Pathan, activist lawyer Syed Ejaz Abbas 'Naqvi' has written to the police to lodge a first information report against him.
On the other hand, Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut on Friday said that his party is capable of giving a befitting reply to statements like those made by the AIMIM. "Waris Pathan made a statement that 15 crore Muslims will dominate 100 crore Indians. I warn that Shiv Sena is capable of giving a proper reply to such statements even though we are in the government in Maharashtra," Raut told ANI.
The All India Majlis-e-Ittehad-ul-Muslimeen (AIMIM) on Friday said that the party will seek an explanation from its leader Waris Pathan. Talking to reporters here, AIMIM's Maharashtra unit chief and Aurangabad MP Imtiyaz Jaleel said, "Our party does not support the statement made by Waris Pathan. The party will seek an explanation from him over the remarks." "If needed, we will come out with a set of dos and don'ts for the party workers to be while giving a speech," he said.
(Inputs from Agencies)
