Protests intensified in Puri over the controversial remark by All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) chief Asaduddin Owaisi on the Jagannath Temple.
Members of the Jagannath Sena staged a demonstration in front of the Singhadwar of Shreemandir demanding arrest of ‘poison man’ Owaisi for his statement. The protestors hit his image on a poster with brooms describing him a ‘big liar’ and later burnt it.
Earlier, the Puri-based sociopolitical outfit had lodged a complaint with the Singhadwar police seeking Owaisi’s arrest.
Notably, the Muslim leader claimed that the Jagannath Temple was built over a Buddhist monument. Addressing a rally in Bhiwandi of Maharashtra in May, the AIMIM MP said, “Swami Vivekananda has written in a book that the Jagannath Temple was constructed after razing a Buddhist worship place.”
Demanding arrest of Owaisi, Jagannath Sena convener Priyadarshan Pattnaik registered a complaint on June 13 in Puri. “Hyderabad MP Owaisi is a vicious person. He wants people to indulge in confrontation over religion,” Pattnaik had told reporters.