Owaisi accuses government of double standards on nationalism

New Delhi, Feb 24 (IANS) All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) president Asaduddin Owaisi on Wednesday accused the Narendra Modi government of having "double standards" on the issue of nationalism.

"Where was their feeling of nationalism when they allied with a party (Peoples Democratic Party) in Jammu and Kashmir that called Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru a martyr and termed his execution a travesty of justice," Owaisi said in the Lok Sabha.

"The BJP gives certificates of nationalism, while the Congress gives certificates of secularism. I request them not to impose their ideology upon others," he added.

Owaisi also blamed Human Resource Development Minister Smriti Irani for the death of Dalit research scholar Rohith Vemula, who committed suicide, on the Hyderabad University campus.

"Had the HRD minister not intervened in the matter, Rohith Vemula wouldn't have died. As far as (Jawaharlal Nehru University Students Union president) Kanhaiya Kumar is concerned, he is innocent and action should be taken against all those (TV news) channels which spread lies about the JNU incident," the AIMIM leader said.