Source : INDIA TODAY NEWS
AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi on Wednesday used a “chair and stool” analogy to mock Uttar Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya’s political standing, while hitting back at his remarks linking madrasa education to terrorism.
“Keshav Maurya can only attack madrasas because his chair is, in fact, just a stool,” Owaisi said in a post on X.
The Hyderabad MP’s response came a day after Maurya alleged that madrasa education was responsible for producing terrorists in India and across the world.
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“This is a reality, it is the truth, that madrasa education certainly… all the biggest terrorists, whether inside India, those who carried out attacks here or those who carried out attacks across the world… it is a result of madrasa education,” Maurya told reporters.
Owaisi accused the Deputy Chief Minister of using “poisonous language” to remain politically relevant and said such remarks were unbecoming of a person holding constitutional office.
“When chairs are scarce, those with stools have no choice but to spew venom to maintain their political relevance,” he said.
OWAISI DEFENDS MADRASAS
Owaisi defended the historical and constitutional place of madrasas, arguing that several such institutions had played an important role in India’s struggle against British rule.
“How could those who love the British possibly like madrasas? Madrasas were centres of resistance against the British and the struggle for freedom. They produced countless fighters for independence, while Savarkar was writing mercy petitions to the British,” he said.
Countering Maurya’s terrorism charge, Owaisi pointed out that Nathuram Godse, who assassinated Mahatma Gandhi, was not a madrasa student.
“The first terrorist of independent India, Godse, was no talib-e-ilm from a madrasa,” he said.
The AIMIM chief also cited India’s first President Rajendra Prasad, writer Munshi Premchand and social reformer Raja Ram Mohan Roy as prominent figures who had received their early education in madrasas, maktabs or other traditional institutions.
He further invoked Article 30 of the Constitution, which gives minority communities the right to establish and administer educational institutions.
MAURYA’S COMMENT SPARKS ROW
Maurya sparked a controversy on Tuesday after claiming that people educated in madrassas develop a “terrorist-like mindset”.
Speaking to reporters at Vidhan Bhavan, Maurya said, “Anyone who receives a madrassa education neither chants ‘Bharat Mata Ki Jai’ nor sings ‘Vande Mataram’, and develops a terrorist-like mindset.”
The remarks drew sharp criticism from Opposition leaders and Muslim organisations.
“The BJP nurtures terrorists, and they can be found inside its own offices,” Samajwadi Party leader Shivpal Yadav said.
Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind (AM) condemned Maurya’s remarks as “the height of communalism”.
Its chief, Maulana Arshad Madani, alleged that those whose ancestors had sought forgiveness from the British were now accusing madrassas of promoting terrorism.
– Ends
SOURCE :- TIMES OF INDIA
