'These elites are...': Owaisi reacts to Muslim intellectuals meeting RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat

New Delhi: AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi on Wednesday (September 21, 2022) reacted to the Muslim intellectuals meeting Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) chief Mohan Bhagwat and said that "they have nothing to do with the ground reality." The Hyderabad MP's statement comes after Bhagwat recently met Delhi's former lieutenant governor Najeeb Jung, former chief election commissioner SY Quraishi, former Aligarh Muslim University vice chancellor Zameer Uddin Shah, former MP Shahid Siddiqui as well as businessman Saeed Shervani.

"Everybody knows the ideology of the Sangh and these Muslim elites are meeting Bhagwat. They have nothing to do with ground reality," Owaisi told reporters.

Barrister @asadowaisi spoke to the media about @myogiadityanath government's illegal survey of waqf properties. He also spoke about hijab and various other issues https://t.co/CzJ5h6V2X4 — AIMIM (@aimim_national) September 21, 2022

Earlier today, the RSS chief also visited a mosque and a madrassa in Delhi and held discussions with the head of the All India Imam Organisation. Bhagwat went to a mosque in central Delhi's Kasturba Gandhi Marg and followed it up with a visit to the Madarsa Tajweedul Quran in Azadpur in north Delhi.

At the Madarsa, he interacted with children and heard them reciting the Quran. According to a Sangh functionary accompanying him, Bhagwat also spoke to the children about the need to know more about the nation and stressed that while the modes of worship could be different, all religions must be respected.

He also held talks with All India Imam Organisation chief Umer Ahmed Ilyasi for about an hour at the mosque, which also houses the office of the All India Imam Organisation and the cleric's residence.

"He is a 'rashtra pita'. We discussed several issues for strengthening the country," Ilyasi told news agency PTI, adding that Bhagwat had visited the mosque as well as madrassa on his invitation.

"With this visit of Bhagwat, a message should go that we all want to work towards strengthening India. For all of us, the nation comes first. Our DNA is the same, it is just that our religion and methods of worshipping god are different," Ilyasi added.

Bhagwat was accompanied by senior Sangh functionaries, including joint general secretary Krishna Gopal and Muslim Rashtriya Manch patron Indresh Kumar.

In a statement after the visits, RSS Prachar Pramukh Sunil Ambekar said, "Sarsanghachalak meets people from all walks of life. It is a part of the continuous general 'Samvad' process."

(With agency inputs)