NEW DELHI: AIMIM president Asaduddin Owaisi has launched a sharp attack on the RSS and BJP over the Manusmriti, questioning their commitment to the Indian Constitution. He accused them of historically favouring the ancient text over the document adopted by the country.Owaisi made the remarks during his address at the Jalsa-e-Rahmatul-lil-Alameen at Darussalam .n Hyderabad on the occasion of the 1501st Eid Milad-un-Nabi. He targeted the RSS over its reported opposition to the Constitution drafted by Dr BR Ambedkar and contrasted the organisation’s position with that of Muslim freedom fighters during British rule.“I am asking those associated with the RSS about Manusmriti. Is it not true that on November 26, 1949, we adopted the Constitution? Yet, four days later, on November 30, a mouthpiece of the RSS published a complaint against it, stating that it wasn’t a constitution at all and that it should have been the Manusmriti. They had issues with the Constitution drafted by Babasaheb Ambedkar,” Owaisi said.The AIMIM chief also attacked Hindutva ideologue VD Savarkar, referring to his correspondence with the British during his imprisonment in the Andaman cellular jail.“Savarkar was in support of Manusmriti. While he was in Andaman jail, he was writing letters to the British, saying, ‘I am with you, please release me.’ But what were we doing? Allama Fazl-e-Haq Khairabadi was also in jail; he endured hardships but never wrote a ‘love letter’ to the British. Instead, he issued a fatwa for Jihad against them. Even today, his grave stands in the Andaman as a testament,” he asserted.Owaisi further sought to highlight the role of Muslim figures in India’s freedom struggle. He claimed that the first prisoner sent to the Andaman Islands was Maulvi Alauddin, the Imam of Hyderabad’s Mecca Masjid.“Listen, BJP and RSS people, who was the first prisoner in Andaman? It was not your father, grandfather, or ancestor. It was Hyderabad’s Maulvi Alauddin, the Imam of Mecca Masjid. He was the first prisoner,” Owaisi told the gathering.His remarks come amid an intensifying political confrontation between the BJP and Congress over the Manusmriti and its place in India’s social and constitutional discourse.The BJP has recently targeted Congress leader and Lok Sabha leader of opposition Rahul Gandhi over his criticism of the Manusmriti. It accused Rahul of making statements that undermine India’s traditions, cultural heritage and democratic institutions. Several BJP leaders, including chief ministers, have alleged that Rahul Gandhi’s remarks sought to “belittle” India’s civilisational values.
Share your thoughts in the comments
Be respectful · TOI community guidelines
At an event titled ‘Chhatron ki Goonj’ in Pune, Rahul Gandhi criticised a passage attributed to the Manusmriti concerning women’s independence.“This is a direct quote from the Manusmriti, and these words are a shame, because these words should never ever have been spoken,” Gandhi said after quoting the passage: “In childhood, a female belongs to her father. In youth, she belongs to her husband. When her lord is dead, she belongs to her sons. A woman must never be independent.”Rahul also called for an end to patriarchal structures, telling female students that the country needs to “smash the prevailing patriarchy” to achieve genuine empowerment for women.The exchange has brought the Manusmriti back into the centre of a wider political debate over constitutional values, social equality and competing interpretations of India’s cultural and political history.
