All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) chief Asaduddin Owaisi, hit out at Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government on Friday for awarding the Padma Vibhushan to BJP leader Murli Manohar Joshi for his alleged role in the Babri Masjid demolition case.
Taking to Twitter, the Hyderabad MP wrote, “MURLI Manohar Joshi gets Padma Vibhushan despite being Accused in Babri Masjid demolition case shows Modi govt commitment to Hindutva,” (sic).
In another tweet, Owaisi also named V Shanmuganathan, who resigned as the Governor of Meghalaya just days after allegations of sexual misconduct. On the other hand, Owaisi said that Joshi's case had been dragging since 1992, and he had been awarded the Padma Vibhushan despite this.
In 2015, Owaisi had questioned the Bharat Ratna and Padma Vibhushan awards which had been given to former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and BJP patriarch L K Advani, who were facing criminal cases in connection with the same incident.
“The same L K Advani, who spread destruction in the country with his ‘Rathyatra’…This could probably be the first instance of Padma Vibhushan being given to a person who is facing criminal cases,” he earlier told Indian Express.
He accused Atal Bihari Vajpayee of making controversial comments on the Ayodhya issue, of which the videos were available on YouTube.
“Have we forgotten December 5 (1992)? The same Atal Bihari Vajpayee, who had said ‘we are going to level the ground’ (has been now given the Bharat Ratna),” he added.
MURLI Manohar Joshi gets Padma Vibhushan despite being Accused in Babri Madjid demolition case shows Modi govt commitment to Hindutva
— Asaduddin Owaisi (@asaadowaisi) January 26, 2017
Meghalaya Gov Shanmuganathan resigns bcos of allegations molestation but MURLI M Joshi gets Padma Vibushan facing criminal charges BM demlt
— Asaduddin Owaisi (@asadowaisi) January 26, 2017