All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) chief and Hyderabad MP Asaduddin Owaisi on Thursday said that if the government wants to deport “illegal Bangladeshis” from India, it should begin by sending back former Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, who has been living in India since her ouster in August 2024.
“Why are we keeping that deposed leader (Sheikh Hasina) in the country? Send her back. She is also a Bangladeshi, isn’t it?” Owaisi said at The Indian Express’s Idea Exchange event.
He said India should “accept the popular revolution” that has taken place in Dhaka and work towards good relations with Bangladesh’s current regime.
“We have one Bangladeshi living in our country and creating problems by giving statements and speeches, and then we have these poor Bengali-speaking Indians from Malda and Murshidabad who were sent from Pune to Kolkata in an aircraft and then dumped in no man’s land,” Owaisi said, referring to recent incidents where Bengali-speaking residents were deported without verification.
“Anyone who speaks Bengali becomes Bangladeshi, is it? It shows the xenophobia that is operating here,” he said in response to a question on the Opposition’s take on the alleged targeting of Bengali migrants across the country.
He added: “What right does the police have to put these people in detention centres? Everyone has become a vigilante over here.”
Owaisi also warned that the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) process underway in Bihar could lead to “genuine” citizens — especially Muslims — being left out of voter lists.
“If SIR happens and names of genuine voters are not included, then questions will be raised about their citizenship,” he said, citing his party’s experience during earlier exercises in Bihar.
“If you read the instructions of the Election Commission, it says that if the ERO (Electoral Registration Officer) finds someone suspicious or does not find them after three visits, he can inform the competent authority under the Citizenship Act, 1955,” Owaisi said.
“Our experience of Bihar tells us that a majority of Muslim names are being excluded. What will happen if this gets replicated elsewhere?” he asked.
Owaisi, who was part of a parliamentary delegation headed by BJP leader Baijayant Panda that visited several countries after the May 7 strike in Pahalgam, said the government had missed an opportunity to make India’s case more effectively on the global stage.
“Immediately after the May 7 strike, the Indian government should have spoken to international journalists. But they did not, for reasons better known to them,” he said.
Owaisi said his delegation was “well received” but countries “asked us why we do not talk to Pakistan”. He added, “We told them we have done that many times and nothing has come out of it… We were able to put forward India’s point of view and dispel the propaganda that India was out to annihilate Pakistan.”
Owaisi criticised both the BJP-led government and Opposition parties for failing to speak up on issues concerning minorities and injustice.
“This whole politics did not start in 2014 — It has always been there. Since 2014, it took a definite turn,” he said. “In the present political environment, many so-called secular parties are reluctant to talk about issues concerning the biggest minority community in the country.”
He cited examples of secular parties failing to take a stand on issues that he believed were of importance.
“You do not find them talking about the verdict in the (7/11) train blasts, nor the 2008 Malegaon blasts. It is not a question of talking about minorities. But if you are not going to even talk about injustice, then what do you stand for?” Owaisi said.
Turning to West Asia, Owaisi strongly condemned the Modi government’s silence on the ongoing conflict in Gaza, accusing it of indirectly supporting Israel’s military campaign.
“We are just keeping quiet. This government is not speaking about the genocide that is happening in Gaza. As many as 65,000 Palestinians have been killed by the racist government of Benjamin Netanyahu. Of these, 20,000 are children,” he said.
“Not a word is uttered by the PM. And then you say you are for the two-state solution. Where will the state be if Palestinians are going to be killed day in and day out? The government of PM Modi is actually supporting Netanyahu in committing this genocide by keeping quiet,” Owaisi alleged.