Calm Asaduddin, Angry Akbaruddin – The smart electoral strategy of Owaisi Brothers

Say Asaduddin Owaisi and a solemn visage appears on your mind. Asaduddin Owaisi is every inch of a gentleman. A gentleman in political circuits is called a statesman. He never jumps to a conclusion, he weighs his words nicely, and his deep penetrating voice never rises above a certain decibel level. Even in the most torturing TV debates, Asaduddin Owaisi never loses his calm. He is almost always loaded with facts and rebuts to claims nicely. He has a clear agenda, he wishes to become the tallest leader of the Muslims in India but he doesn’t do that by scorning or verbally attacking Hindus. In fact he comes across as a flag bearer of secularism. He doesn’t waver from attacking Pakistani guests on TV Shows thereby establishing his staunch nationalist credentials. He even demanded action against Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi and Hafiz Saeed for killing innocents.

Read: Is Owaisi the Next Jinnah?

Say Akbaruddin Owaisi and a roguish visage appears on your mind. Akbaruddin Owaisi is every inch of a rogue. He never keeps calm, his voice is always at the highest decibel levels. He doesn’t just criticize Hindus and Hindu Religion, he simply wages a war against it. He is always ready to spew venom against the Hindus and ridicule their gods. He doesn’t spare any political party or leader and uses the choicest of expletives against them in his thick Hyderabadi accent. He doesn’t believe in secularism of any kind, he believes in Muslim Might and he is very vocal about it. He generally avoids TV debates. He doesn’t care to showcase his nationalist side at all.

Both of them happen to be polar opposites of each other and both of them also happen to be blood brothers. The Owaisis belong to one of the oldest political families of the country. Owaisi’s grandfather founded the AIMIM in Hyderabad in the 1970s. The AIMIM is in effect the political restoration of the Majlis e Ittehad-ul Muslimeen, founded by the Qasim Rizvi, who is better known as the founder of the Hindu Butchering militia called the Razkaras. While Asaduddin has been active in politics from a fairly long time, Akbaruddin Owaisi rose to prominence only after his supremely inciting and hateful speech where he addressed a large number of Muslims and repeatedly made offensive comments against Hindus, Hindu Gods, Hindu Temples Hindu Dharma and the leaders of BJP. Akbaruddin was booked under various IPC clauses and imprisoned for fanning communal embers and creating a rift between people of different communities but the actual effect was exceptional. His video went viral on the internet. For a section of the society he was the biggest villain overnight and for some he was the intrepid activist that they had been waiting for. It gave AIMIM an unprecedented visibility. And since then the Owaisis have been using this tactic to their great advantage.

The younger brother goes to areas where there is a sizeable population of Muslims and makes hateful remarks. He makes no efforts to tone down or appear politically correct. At the same time, Asaduddin Owaisi calmly addresses people in his rallies and lays great stress on the need of communal harmony in India. He doesn’t contradict his brother or apologizes for his brash remarks, he instead focuses in appearing as sane and as reasonable as a leader possibly can. And this trick works like a charm. They reaped rich rewards in Maharashtra Elections successfully and Bihar is their next big target. Getting a foothold in Bihar means gaining a foothold in national politics.

Now see what happened on Sunday:

On Sunday, Owaisi had addressed an election meeting at Sontha Haat village under Kochadhaman assembly constituency in Kishanganj district from where AIMIM state unit chief Akhtarul Iman is contesting.

He had allegedly used abusive language against all members of Parliament except his elder brother Asaduddin Owaisi who is AIMIM chief and an MP from Hyderabad. He also allegedly made provocative remarks against BJP leaders.

The police are probing if the damage to idols of goddess Kali in two temples in Nepalgarh locality had any connection to the speech. The SP said idols were found damaged in two adjacent temples this morning and created tension in the town and protests.

Source: Times of India

I wouldn’t be surprised if Owaisi senior now holds a “Spread Love, Not Hatred” rally in Seemanchal where he pitches for Muslim rights without attacking Hindus or any leaders. This is good political strategy for sure but it is also a recipe for disaster. Nothing is more dangerous than a frantic mob.