One can say 'I love Modi' but not 'I love Mohammad': AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi

Hyderabad (Telangana) [India], October 3 (ANI): AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi claimed that in India, one can say 'I love Modi' but not 'I love Mohammad', responding to the controversy over the circulation of "I Love Mohammad" posters and signs. His remarks come amid continuing tensions in Uttar Pradesh's Bareilly, following a protest over the posters that turned violent last week.
Speaking at a public meeting in Hyderabad on Thursday, Owaisi questioned the direction in which the nation is heading. "In this country, one can say 'I love Modi' but not 'I love Mohammad'. Where are you taking this nation? If someone says 'I love Modi', the media also becomes happy," he said.
He further asserted, "If someone says 'I love Mohammad', then that is objected to. 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."
Owaisi's remarks come against the backdrop of a tense situation prevailing in Uttar Pradesh's Bareilly, where protests over "I Love Mohammad" posters on September 26 turned violent.
"We condemn violence... There are videos in which police are lathi-charging and shopkeepers are showering flowers on them. 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... No one was named Mohammad other than the Prophet Mohammad. If you install his posters, you have to respect them...," the AIMIM chief said.
Addressing concerns over law and order, Owaisi questioned the government's role, "I want to ask the government why they are making so many laws, and what is happening? 3000 Muslims in Assam were made homeless, claiming that the construction was on government land..."
He urged people to remain patient and act within legal frameworks, stating, "We must not be bothered by the situation. We have to deal with patience. We must do everything within the law. Don't take the law into your own hands. When you act within the law, you will realise that the law is just a spiderweb and nothing else," he said.
Meanwhile, Uttar Pradesh police have arrested Ittehad-e-Millat Council (IMC) National General Secretary Nafees Khan and his son Farman Khan in connection with the September 26 protests in Bareilly, taking the total arrests in the case to 81.
According to the police, Farman used to handle the Facebook page of IMC.
Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Bareilly Anurag Arya informed that Nafees and his son revealed that "everyone was involved in the conspiracy".
In response to the unrest, the Bareilly administration suspended mobile internet and broadband services for 48 hours, from 3 pm on October 2 to 3 pm on October 4.
A group of people had gathered outside Ala Hazrat Dargah and Ittehad-e-Millat Council (IMC) chief Maulana Tauqeer Raza Khan's house, holding "I Love Mohammad" placards.
The protestors pelted stones at the police during the protest after the Friday prayers. (ANI)