BJP slams Asaduddin Owaisi's 'anti-India' rant

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Monday slammed All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen party (AIMIM) chief Asaduddin Owaisi for his remark that he won't chant 'Bharat Mata Ki Jai' slogan and asked him as to what was wrong in respecting the mother land. "I do not know why this kind of language is catching up. Such a senior leader should not use such language. Secondly, with regard to considering mother earth not as an idol or idol worship, this is the land we come from. To have respect for it, I do not know why it has to be linked to cutting ones throat," BJP spokesperson Nalin Kohli said.

Owaisi's comments came in wake of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) chief Mohan Bhagwat's suggestion that the new generation needs to be taught to chant slogans hailing mother India. "I don't chant that slogan. What are you going to do Bhagwat sahab?" Owaisi said at a public rally in Latur.

"I won't utter that (slogan) even if you put a knife on my throat. Nowhere has it been mentioned in the Constitution that one should say 'Bharat Mata ki Jai'," he added.

The RSS chief had earlier said the new generation needs to be taught to chant slogans hailing mother India. Bhagwat's comments came against the backdrop of the row over alleged anti-India sloganeering in the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) campus on February 9.