Asaduddin Owaisi rejects 'Z' security, asks govt to file case under UAPA

AIMIM member Asaduddin Owaisi on Friday rejected 'Z' security cover extended to him by the government, a day after gunshots were fired at his car in western Uttar Pradesh.

Speaking in the Lok Sabha, Owaisi urged the government to charge those who attacked him with stringent provisions of the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act and appealed to end radicalisation in the country.

"I don't want Z category security. I want to be an A-category citizen, at par with you all. Why was UAPA not invoked against those who fired at me? ...I want to live, to speak. My life will be safe when the poor are safe. I will not get scared of those who shot at my car," he said in Parliament.

On Thursday, gunshots were fired at Owaisi's vehicle at Hapur in western Uttar Pradesh when he was returning to Delhi after campaigning for the assembly elections.

The government had decided to provide Owaisi 'Z' category security after an assessment of the threat perception after the incident, official sources said.

Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal said the state government has arrested the culprits and also seized the weapon and vehicle used in the attack.

Goyal said Home Minister Amit Shah will make a statement in the House on Monday.

"I do not want 'Z' security. I wish to lead a free life. I have to raise my voice against the government. If I get shot while doing this, it is acceptable to me. But I cannot lead a life of suffocation," Owaisi said.

Owaisi demanded that the government set up a counter-radicalisation cell, comprising religious and community leaders, in the Internal Security Department of the Home Ministry.

"Radicalisation will harm you and lead to an increase in right-wing terrorism," he said and sought to know why provisions of the UAPA were not invoked against the radicalised youth who attacked him.

The AIMIM leader said he strongly believed that the people of Uttar Pradesh will respond to the bullets fired at him through the ballot.

Owaisi said the government had invoked UAPA for a Facebook post praising a particular sporting team, but wondered whether the stringent law will be invoked against a sitting member of Parliament.

"You are aware of what all was said against me in Haridwar, Raipur and Allahabad. There is an IB report about it. I am not afraid of death. I was born in this land and wish to be buried in Aurangabad when my eyes are shut," he added.

"Owaisi's life is no greater than that of Akhlaq or Pehlu," he said in an apparent reference to the lynching deaths in Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan.

Owaisi said he also disagreed with a Congress leader who said there were two Indias on the basis of wealth.

"India's wealth is love. India's wealth is not money. There are two Indias --one that has prospered over the ages in love and the other that is being built on hatred," he said.