top of page

By:

Quaid Najmi

4 January 2025 at 3:26:24 pm

Educated Muslims being hounded: Owaisi

Mumbai: AIMIM President Asaduddin Owaisi has flayed what he termed as a ‘media trial’ in the alleged TCS Nashik conversion case and claimed that educated Muslims youth are being deliberately targeted as part of planned ‘hate campaign’, here on Saturday. Reiterating full faith in the judicial process, Owaisi said that justice cannot be handed out through media narratives or television debates and the law must be allowed to take its own course. “We are seeing a very dangerous trend… Now,...

Educated Muslims being hounded: Owaisi

Mumbai: AIMIM President Asaduddin Owaisi has flayed what he termed as a ‘media trial’ in the alleged TCS Nashik conversion case and claimed that educated Muslims youth are being deliberately targeted as part of planned ‘hate campaign’, here on Saturday. Reiterating full faith in the judicial process, Owaisi said that justice cannot be handed out through media narratives or television debates and the law must be allowed to take its own course. “We are seeing a very dangerous trend… Now, educated Muslims are being picked out for orchestrated allegations and media campaigns. This doesn’t augur well for society and justice itself with the media playing the role of the judge and jury,” said Owaisi sharply. Flanked by the All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen state President Imtiaz Jaleel, Owaisi also emphatically said that it was wrong to link his party with the TCS case prime accused Nida Khan, “who will be ultimately proven innocent in the courts”. He expressed concerns over the slur campaign driven by malice and political motives against his party as well as Nida Khan in some sections of the media even before the investigations were completed or a judicial scrutiny. “Merely because some allegations have been hurled at a young woman professional, attempts are being made to paint her ‘guilty’ through media trials, even before judicial scrutiny. But, we have complete faith in the judiciary and are confident that the court will eventually exonerate her,” asserted Owaisi. Public Discourse Raising questions on the probe and accompanying public discourse with stress on the alleged recovery of certain ‘evidence’ from Nida Khan’s home, he sharply questioned: “Since when have a burqa, a niqab or religious literature become objectionable… Is wearing a hijab now regarded as evidence of a crime?” He said that these details along with baseless allegations are sensationalism in the media to create further prejudice against the minority community and reflected a deep-rooted hostility aimed at harassing educated Muslim men and women. Owaisi pointed out that a complaint in the TCS Nashik case was filed by a leader linked with the ruling party, and as per the software giant’s statement, Nida Khan was not with its HR Department and transferred even before the controversy erupted, contradicting several media reports. Of the nine cases lodged in the matter till date, in one case, she was accused of hurting religious sentiments, but nobody can comment on it before the court pronounces its verdict, he pointed out. Court Fight Dismissing attempts to drag and link the AIMIM into the row, he referred to a party Municipal Corporator Matin Patel who was booked merely on the basis of certain allegations and vowed to contest the matter in the court. Here Owaisi cited multiple examples of educated Muslims being scrutinised – including in Delhi when some educated youths were arrested for possessing a book by the legendary Urdu poet Mirza Ghalib and they were later released. There was another one from Allahabad where some Muslim boys were targeted for writing an Urdu ‘sher’ (couplet) prompting judicial intervention, and predicted that even in the Nashik TCS case, the truth will ultimately prevail as no criminal charges against Nida Khan may stand. AIMIM to set up voter help-desks AIMIM President and Hyderabad MP, Asaduddin Owaisi said his party is developing a digital application containing electoral records of all 288 Assembly constituencies in Maharashtra for 2002-2024, to help voters in the SIR process. For this, the AIMIM will set up help desk centers in its strongholds to facilitate the process and ensure proper utilisation of voter data. Alleging discrepancies in electoral records, he said such errors create huge problems for the voters, especially the poor or illiterates. Owaisi mentioned how of the nearly 27 lakh names placed in the adjudication list in West Bengal, “90 pc were poor Muslims.” These centers would be open for all Muslims, Buddhists, Christians, Dalits, Adivasis and the general public needing assistance with the electoral records.

Eastern Promise

In the long, uneven story of Mumbai’s transport modernisation, there are moments when intent finally aligns with necessity. The decision by the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority to revive work on Metro Line 14 is one such moment. It is, unequivocally, good news. But it will remain so only if urgency follows intent.


The proposed 43.69-km corridor from Kanjurmarg to Badlapur is a major corrective to a structural imbalance in Mumbai’s growth. For decades, the eastern periphery from Bhandup and Mulund to Ambernath and Badlapur has expanded in a manner that has far outpaced the capacity of its transport backbone. The result is a punishing daily ritual on the Central Railway suburban network, where overcrowding has become a design feature.


Metro Line 14 promises relief where it is most needed. With 24 stations, largely elevated, and multiple interchanges in linking with existing and proposed corridors such as Lines 4, 6 and 12, as well as suburban rail at Kanjurmarg and Badlapur, it is conceived as a connective transport tissue.


There is, however, a note of caution in the project’s recent history. The termination of the earlier contract with the Italian firm Metro Milano, following concerns flagged by Indian Institute of Technology Bombay, is a reminder that ambition must be matched by rigour. Faulty assumptions, whether about ridership, costs or engineering feasibility, can haunt projects long after they are commissioned.


Yet, prudence must not turn into paralysis. Mumbai has seen too many projects trapped in the amber of endless revision.


The stakes are high for the Maharashtra government here. With recent additions pushing the operational network beyond 100 km, the Mumbai Metro has now overtaken Namma Metro to become India’s second-largest metro system, behind the formidable Delhi Metro. This is no small achievement. It reflects a city finally beginning to invest at scale in mass transit. But rankings, while gratifying, are beside the point. The true test lies in whether the network reaches those who need it most.


In that sense, Line 14 is pivotal. It extends the promise of the metro beyond the island city and its immediate suburbs into the vast, fast-growing hinterland where affordability has pushed millions. These are long-distance commuters, often travelling from Badlapur or Ambernath, whose daily journeys can exceed two hours each way. For them, time saved is a restoration of dignity.


The government, therefore, must treat this project with the urgency it deserves. Timelines must be tight, accountability clear and decision-making must be swift. The administrative will to act on delays has been well-known in the past.


If executed with speed and care, Metro Line 14 could reshape commuting patterns, unlock new economic corridors and bring a measure of coherence to the region’s sprawl. This would be transformative in a city where distance has long dictated the destiny of hapless commuters. While the promise is evident, all that remains is the execution to live up to it. 


Comments

bottom of page