All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) chief Asaduddin Owaisi has been quick to attribute a communal motive to the encounter of Asad, the son of notorious criminal Atiq Ahmed, while conveniently forgetting that similar treatment was meted out to criminals from other communities, such as Vikas Dubey, a Brahmin accused of killing eight police officers in July 2020. In July 2022, Dubey was killed in an encounter, after the police vehicle carrying him met with an accident and he tried to escape.
In a public speech delivered in the city of Nizamabad in the state of Telangana, Owaisi made controversial remarks linking the recent encounter of Asad, son of infamous criminal Atiq Ahmed, to a perceived communal bias of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
During his address, Owaisi explicitly referred to the case of Junaid and Nasir, two men who were allegedly killed by cow vigilantes in February, with their burnt bodies discovered in an SUV in the state of Haryana. In a strongly worded statement, he demanded to know whether the BJP would also take similar actions against the perpetrators of the aforementioned murders.
“Will the BJP also shoot those who killed Junaid and Nasir? Will the BJP also do an encounter killing of those who killed Junaid and Nasir? No, because you (the BJP) do encounters in the name of religion,” said Owaisi, visibly agitated by the situation.
The AIMIM leader’s comments have since drawn widespread criticism, with many accusing him of politicizing sensitive matters and attempting to inflame communal tensions for personal gain.
The Uttar Pradesh Police demonstrated no compassion or leniency towards Vikas Dubey despite his heinous crimes. He was killed in an encounter in July 2022 after he tried to escape in a road accident.
Owaisi’s failure to acknowledge the severity of the situation is astounding, as law enforcement officials were dealing with dangerous and notorious criminals. Not only were deadly weapons such as a British Bulldog Revolver .455 bore and a Walther P88 7.63 bore pistol recovered from the criminals, but the remand copy obtained by The New Indian revealed that Atiq Ahmed had been importing weapons from Pakistan through drones in Punjab for the past six years. This is a clear indication of the organized and sophisticated nature of the criminal activities that were being carried out. Owaisi’s inability to recognize the gravity of the situation and instead choosing to highlight a communal angle is a blatant disregard for the safety and security of the public.
On Thursday, the Uttar Pradesh Special Task Force (STF) encountered and killed Atiq Ahmed’s son Asad and his accomplice in Jhansi. Asad and Ghulam were both suspects in the murder case of Umesh Pal in Prayagraj and had a reward of Rs 5 lakh each on their heads.