Maharashtra MIM lawmaker suspended

MIM legislator Waris Pathan was suspended from the Maharashtra assembly on Wednesday when he refused to say "Bharat Mata Ki Jai" in the house.

There was uproar in the assembly after BJP legislator Ram Kadam asked him to say 'Bharat Mata Ki Jai', but Pathan refused.

This outraged other members from all parties who demanded the suspension of the All India Majlis-E-Ittehadul Muslimeen legislator for what they termed an 'insult' to the motherland.

Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Ranit Patil moved a proposal for suspending Pathan for the entire duration of the ongoing budget session, which was approved.

Refusing to comply with Kadam's request, Pathan referred to Bollywood writer Javed Akhtar's speech in parliament and said: "If Javed Sahab wants to say 'Bharat Mata Ki Jai', let him, we won't. We will say 'Hindustan Zindabad' and 'Jai Hind'."

By commenting on the cap worn by (party chief) Asaduddin Owaisi, Javed Akhtar has insulted Muslims of not only India but the whole world, he added.

Several members from the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party, Shiv Sena and opposition Congress and Nationalist Congress Party strongly criticised Pathan's action and demanded his suspension.

Later, Pathan told media persons that 'Bharat Mata Ki Jai' was a diktat from the RSS and he would not subscribe to it. - IANS