'I love Muhammad' row: Owaisi questions direction in which nation is heading, says 'I love Modi' ...

AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi (Courtesy: ANI)

All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) chief Asaduddin Owaisi claimed that 'I love Modi' gets a warm response from people however someone saying 'I love Muhammad' is often criticized. His remarks come amid rising tensions in Uttar Pradesh's Bareilly following a protest over 'I love Muhammad' posters that turned violent last week.

Questioned the direction in which the nation is heading, the Hyderabad MP said, "In this country, one can say 'I love Modi' but not 'I love Muhammad'. Where are you taking this nation? If someone says 'I love Modi', the media also becomes happy. But if someone says 'I love Muhammad', then that is objected to," he said at a public meeting on Thursday.

"If I am a Muslim, it is because of Muhammad. There is nothing above and beyond that for the 17 crore Indians who participated in the country's independence," he added.

Condemning the lathi charge on people and warning those who supported the action, Owaisi said that police are only accountable to those in power. "There are videos in which police are lathi-charging and shopkeepers are showering flowers on them (cops). We must keep in mind that the police are only accountable to those in power and no one else. They will beat you tomorrow when the power shifts ...," he said.

The AIMIM chief cautioned the youth to stay away from violence breaking the law. He said that whatever they decide to do should be within the confines of the law.

What is 'I love Muhammad' row?

On September 26, as many as 2,000 people gathered outside a mosque in Bareilly after Friday prayers to protest the cancellation of a proposed protest over the 'I Love Muhammad' poster row. Protestors hurled stones, police personnel were injured and people were lathi-charged.

The controversy began on September 4 when a 'I love Muhammad' poster was put on a tent along the route during the Eid-e-Milad-un-Nabi procession in Kanpur. Several Hindu organisations raised objections and termed it a 'new trend' and alleged that the poster was deliberately installed at a place where Hindu festivities are observed.

Local cleric and Ittehad-e-Millat Council chief Tauqeer Raza Khan, whose call for the protest supporting the 'I love Muhammad' campaign led to the violent clash in Bareilly, was arrested on September 27. They were sent to 14-day judicial custody for allegedly masterminding the violent clash, police said.