Owaisi responds after Himanta blames 'Miya Muslims' for vegetable prices
All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) supremo and Hyderabad MP Asaduddin Owaisi on Friday bashed Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma for blaming Miya Muslim vendors for the soaring prices of vegetables. While attacking the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader, Owaisi also highlighted that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has also developed "deep friendships" with "foreign Muslims" amid the latter's United Arab Emirates (UAE) visit.
Why does this story matter?
This response from the AIMIM chief comes right after the Assam chief minister stirred a massive controversy earlier on Friday after he alleged that Miya Muslim vegetable sellers were jacking up the prices of vegetables in Guwahati. Sarma also claimed that if the people of Assam sold vegetables, they would have never charged "their Assamese people" this much.
They will blame Miya Muslims for personal failures: Owaisi
Attacking Sarma, Owaisi tweeted, "There is a group of people in this country who will blame the Miya Muslims if their buffalo doesn't give milk, if their hen doesn't lay eggs. They will blame Miya Muslims for all their personal failures too." "Nowadays, Modi ji has a deep friendship with foreign Muslims. Get some tomatoes, spinach, and potatoes from them," he added.
Twitter post by Owaisi
Here's what Sarma said about Miya Muslims
While blaming the Miya Muslim community for the rising vegetable prices, Sarma said, "The vegetable rates are lower in the rural areas; however, the prices are increased when they are brought to the urban places." "They (Miya Muslims) have been taking high prices from the Assamese people. In Guwahati, Miya people have taken control of the local vegetable markets," BBC Hindi quoted him saying.
About Miya Muslims in Assam
Miya Muslims are referred to as Bengali-speaking Muslims living in Assam and are believed to have migrated from Bangladesh. It is worth noting that the Assam CM has often criticized the Miya community for being "very communal" and even suggested that they were "outsiders." Furthermore, Sarma has also accused them of trying to damage the Assamese language and culture.
Owasi's 'deep friendship' comments on PM Modi
Interestingly, Owasi's "deep friendship" comments on PM Modi come just a few weeks after the Indian PM visited Egypt and was conferred with the prestigious "Order of the Nile," the country's highest state honor, by President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi. Earlier this week, Muslim World League (MWL) Secretary-General Dr. Mohammad bin Abdulkarim Al-Issa also met PM Modi in Delhi on his official visit to India.
