Hyderabad, February 9 AIMIM president Asaduddin Owaisi on Monday criticized the BJP-led Centre and the RSS over the Sangh chief's remarks seeking the Bharat Ratna for Hindutva ideologue V D Savarkar, saying the saffron party would even award the country's highest civilian honor to Mahatma Gandhi's assassin, Nathuram Godse.
Addressing a rally in Mahabubnagar during the campaign for the municipal elections in Telangana, Owaisi said Maulvi Alauddin, the then imam of Makkah Masjid in Hyderabad, was arrested for attacking the British Residency during the First War of Independence in 1857 and was sent to the 'Kala Pani' jail in the Andaman Islands, where he later passed away.
The Hyderabad MP, without naming Savarkar, said the RSS was seeking the Bharat Ratna for a person who had written six mercy petitions to the British.
He asked the RSS who the first prisoner in 'Kala Pani' was—whether it was a Sangh member or a Muslim—adding that Maulvi Alauddin was the first prisoner in the Cellular Jail in the Andamans.
Referring to the J L Kapur Commission report on Mahatma Gandhi's assassination, Owaisi further asked whether Justice Kapur had not stated that Savarkar was a conspirator in Gandhi's assassination.
"A person who conspired in Gandhi's assassination—you are seeking the Bharat Ratna for him. Congratulations. A time will come in this country when the BJP will give the Bharat Ratna to Godse as well," the AIMIM chief claimed.
Regarding the long-standing demand for the Bharat Ratna for Savarkar, Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) chief Mohan Bhagwat on Sunday said the prestige of the award would rise if it were conferred on him.