Owaisi critiques Modi’s Israel visit, links Zionism to hatred

All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen president Asaduddin Owaisi on Friday said that Zionism and the ideology of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh were both rooted in hatred, even as he criticised Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s recent Israel visit.

Addressing the Jalsa Youm-ul-Quran public meeting at Chowk Masjid in the Old City, Mr. Owaisi referred to the PM’s address in the Israeli Parliament and said the speech should also have acknowledged Palestinian suffering and historical injustices. He recalled the 1994 Hebron mosque massacre, in which a ‘Jewish terrorist’ killed 29 worshippers.

Mr. Owaisi cited casualty figures from Gaza, stating that over 70,000 had died, including women and children, and asked whether all those killed could be described as terrorists. He also referred to the displacement of Palestinians during the 1948 Nakba and described Palestine as both a question of justice and a matter of religious significance for Muslims.

The AIMIM leader criticised Israel’s ‘racist’ policies towards Palestinians, and referred to international legal proceedings against Israeli leaders, including arrest warrants issued by the International Criminal Court. He said that Israel was not giving away weapons to India for free. In fact, defence purchases amounted to billions of dollars from 2020 to 2024.

“The respect of india in the global south should not diminish given that you [PM Modi] have supported a genocidal regime. What is the national interest in this, tell us. Who does not sell weapons? The ideology of Zionism and RSS is based on hatred,” he said.

Turning to local issues, Mr. Owaisi criticised the Telangana government over the reported demolition of an 800-year-old dargah in Vemulawada, alleging violations of Waqf law. He said Section 51 of the Waqf Act prohibited alienation of Waqf property by mutawallis and demanded accountability from officials and elected representatives.