Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (MIM), the Hyderabad-based political party, has alleged that the Congress Government in Karnataka was trying to create obstacles in its way to stop its growth. MIM, which created a sensation by winning two Assembly seats in Maharashtra in recent elections, had planned a public meeting in Bengaluru on February 8 to gear up its local units for the upcoming municipal corporation elections. However, the Bengaluru city police withdrew the permission for the meeting after giving its approval.
The meeting, to be addressed by MIM president and MP Asaduddin Owaisi, was to be held at Chhota Maidan of Shivajinagar, a Muslim dominated area. The Commercial Street Police station informed the organisers that the permission was being withdrawn as it was not in a position to make security arrangement as it will be preoccupied with many other programmes on the same day.
Reacting strongly to the development Owaisi said that the Karnataka Government was doing the same mistake the previous Congress-NCP Government had committed in Maharashtra out of fear of MIM. He wants to know how his right to free speech can be stifled in this manner. “The Government is trying to stifle my voice. But it will only strengthen our resolve,” he said. Apart from denying the permission, the Bengaluru Police detained the local organisers for two hours to pressurise them to cancel the public meeting.
MIM was planning to knock the doors of the judiciary to get the permission. MIM leaders said that they were facing similar problems in Uttar Pradesh where the Government was using police to stop the public meeting by denying permission.