Bharat Mata slogan row: Case against Asaduddin Owaisi in Hyderabad

A case was on Friday registered against AIMIM leader Asaduddin Owaisi over his speech wherein he had said he would not chant 'Bharat Mata ki Jai' even if a "knife is put to my throat".

The case was registered by Karimnagar Three Town police in Hyderabad, based on a complaint lodged by one Bethi Mahender Reddy. In the complaint, Reddy alleged that Owaisi's "defamatory" speech would "promote enmity between different groups".

Three Town Circle Inspector P Sadanandam said, "Based on the complaint, a case was registered against Owaisi under IPC section 153 A (promoting enmity between different groups on ground of religion, race, place of birth, residence, language, etc)".

Owaisi, while addressing a public rally in Udgir tehsil of Latur district in Maharashtra on March 13, had said he would not chant 'Bharat Mata Ki Jai'.

"I don't chant that slogan. What are you going to do, Bhagwat sahab," the Lok Sabha MP from Hyderabad had said, referring to RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat's remark that the new generation needed to be taught to hail "Mother India".