Criminal complaint against AIMIM leaders Asaduddin Owaisi, Waris Pathan over 'inflammatory' remarks

A criminal complaint has been filed in a Bihar court against AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi and his party leader Waris Pathan over the latter's controversial remark made in Karnataka recently that '15 crore Muslims can be heavy on 100 crore'.

The complaint was lodged by advocate Sudhir Kumar Ojha in the court of Muzaffarpur Chief Judicial Magistrate Mukesh Kumar, who posted the matter for hearing on March 4.

In his petition, Ojha alleged that Pathan's "inflammatory remarks promote enmity between two communities on grounds of religion" and a stern punishment should be given to him.

Owaisi has been made "accused number 2" as he was present on the stage when Pathan made the remark, he said.

Pathan made the statement while addressing an anti-Citizenship (Amendment) Act rally in Kalaburagi on February 16.

"We have to move together. We have to take 'azadi' (freedom), things that we don't get by asking, we have to take it by force, remember it... (We may be) 15 crore but are heavy on 100 (crore), remember it," Pathan can be heard saying in a video that has gone viral.

Ojha said his religious sentiment was hurt by Pathan's remarks.

AIMIM gained a foothold in Bihar politics last year, winning the Kishanganj seat in a bypoll, defeating BJP candidate Sweety Singh by a margin of over 10,000 votes.

Meanwhile, its Maharashtra unit chief Imtiyaz Jaleel said AIMIM does not support Pathan's statement. "The party will seek an explanation from him over the remark. If needed, we will come out with a set of dos and don'ts for AIMIM workers while giving speeches," he said in Aurangabad.