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A day after the Hindu Sena branded AIMIM leader Asaduddin Owaisi as a 'traitor' for saying that he would never chant 'Bharat Mata Ki Jai', a BJP leader from Uttar Pradesh has announced a reward of Rs 1 crore to whoever cuts Owaisi's tongue.
Calling Owaisi a traitor, BJP leader Shyam Prakash Dwivedi said he has no right to stay in India.
Rejecting RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat's suggestion of teaching students to chant slogans hailing mother India, Owaisi, the Lok Sabha MP from Hyderabad had said he would not chant 'Bharat Mata ki Jai' even if a knife is put to his throat. He had added that nowhere in the Constitution does it says that one should chant the slogan.
"I don't chant that slogan. What are you going to do, Bhagwat sahab," Owaisi had said at a rally in Udgir tehsil of Latur district in Maharashtra on February 13.
Dwivedi reportedly took offense at this statement. "I believe he is a traitor and if he has any objection in saying 'Bharat Mata ki jai' then he does not deserve to stay in the country. His tongue should be cut and anyone who does, will be rewarded with Rs 1 crore," reported CNN-IBN quoting Dwivedi.
Meanwhile, the Shiv Sena has demanded the cancellation of Owaisi's Indian citizenship. On Wednesday, Hindu Sena activists had allegedly put up posters at the entrance of his official residence on Ashoka Road.
"The posters were fixed by our activists as they were angered by Owaisi openly saying that he will not say 'Vande Mataram'. There should not be any place for traitors in the country," said Vishnu Gupta, president of Hindu Sena.
AIMIM MLA Waris Pathan was also suspended from Maharashtra Assembly for refusing to say 'Bharat Mata Ki Jai', with legislators cutting across party lines pressing for action against him through a unanimous resolution.
However, Owaisi said that his party's MLA Waris Pathan's suspension will set a wrong precedent, and it was the first time in the history of India that a person was suspended for not saying a slogan.
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