Asaduddin Owaisi's claim on 'Muslim vote bank', Gyanvapi mosque-Shringar Gauri temple case

As the Gyanvapi Mosque-Shringar Gauri temple issue gathers steam, Asaduddin Owaisi commented on the case. The All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen chief also said that the Muslim community in India was never a vote bank, and will never be.

The Hyderabad MP said, "In our dear country, Muslims cannot change the government. You are being misled. Muslims used to think that they are a vote bank. Muslims were never a vote bank. It never was, and never will be so. In this country, there was and will always be a vote bank of the majority community. You have been cheated with this attractive and alluring idea that Muslims are a vote bank."

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He cited the Babri Masjid-Ram Janmabhoomi dispute, and invoked the ongoing Gyanvapi-Shringar Gauri case. "We cannot change the government. If we could, then why would the Indian Parliament have so few Muslim members? When was the last time that a Muslim MP was elected from Gujarat? If we could change government... the Babri Masjid issue has been adjudicated by the courts, and now Gyanvapi Mosque issue has erupted. You are free to disagree with me," he added.

His comments came in the wake of a local Varanasi court allowing videographic survey of the mosque. The court is hearing petitions by some Delhi-based women for permission to perform daily worship of Hindu deities located on the outer wall of the Gyanvapi Masjid.

The mosque is located next to Varanasi's Kashi Vishwanath temple. Owaisi earlier said that the Gyanvapi mosque's status is protected by Places of Worship Act, 1991.