Owaisi invokes Palestine during his oath-taking in Lok Sabha

Asaduddin Owaisi takes oath in Lok Sabha, expresses solidarity with Palestine.

All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen president Asaduddin Owaisi on Tuesday took his oath as a member of the 18th Lok Sabha session even as he invoked Palestine.

Mr. Owaisi, who was elected to the Lok Sabha for the fifth time, has been vocal about his support for Palestine. He concluded his oath-taking with, “Jai Falasteen (Palestine). Takbeer. Allahu Akbar.”

The All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen president’s solidarity with Palestine and the Palestinian people has been a common feature, including at several public meetings since the run-up to the Telangana Assembly Elections-2023. Mr. Owaisi was vocal about his concern at the killing of Palestinian men, women and children, and minced no words in his criticism of the Prime Minister of Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu, who he described as as satan, and a war criminal.

Mr. Owaisi had also urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to intervene in the Israel-Hamas war, and put an end to the killing of innocent Palestinians. At a recent public meeting, Mr. Owaisi wore a pin of Palestine on his sherwani and challenged the Uttar Pradesh government to book him for his support of the Palestinian people. Mr. Owaisi, at one of the annual Jalsa Rahatullil Alameen series of public meetings last year, had said, “A Chief Minister from the country said, ‘If somebody names Palestine, book him’. Listen, Chief Minister, I am wearing the flag of Palestine with the tricolour. I am standing for Palestine and will continue to do so, God willing.” He asserted that Palestine was not an Arab or a Muslim issue but of humanity.

On Tuesday Mr. Owaisi also chanted Jai Bheem Jai Meem, a slogan which is an allusion to Dalit-Muslim solidarity, and Jai Telangana.

Over the past few months, Hyderabad saw pro-Palestinian demonstrations, including one organised by the Students Islamic Organisation, the student wing of the Jamaat-e-Islami.