New Delhi:
Senior BJP leader Nishikant Dubey has said the Centre’s decision to put him and AIMIM MP Asaduddin Owaisi in the delegation that will travel to Muslim countries to expose Pakistan’s link with terrorism shows the “most beautiful face of democracy”.
The two firebrand leaders from opposite sides of the political aisle are part of a seven-member delegation that will travel to Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain and Algeria as part of India’s global outreach in the aftermath of the Pahalgam terror attack and India’s counterstrike, Operation Sindoor.
Led by senior BJP leader Baijayant Panda, the delegation comprises Dr Nishikant Dubey MP, Asaduddin Owaisi, BJP’s Phangnon Konyak, BJP’s Rekha Sharma, nominated MP Satnam Singh Sandhu, former Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad and former foreign secretary Ambassador Harsh Shringla. Six more delegations from India will travel to other parts of the world.
“I am grateful to honourable Prime Minister Narendra Modi for choosing me to travel to Muslim countries and talk about Pakistan’s actions and India’s 78-year struggle against terrorism. The most beautiful face of democracy is that Mr Owaisi and I will together talk about Indian democracy and the respect and dignity Muslims get in India,” he said in a post on X.
This comes less than a month after Mr Owaisi had slammed Mr Dubey over the latter’s remark criticising the Supreme Court. In the aftermath of the top court’s landmark Tamil Nadu judgment, which effectively set a deadline for the President and governors to clear Bills passed by the legislature twice, Mr Dubey said, “Parliament and State Assemblies should be shut”, and stressed that the Supreme Court was crossing its limits.
The BJP had distanced itself from the remark, with party chief JP Nadda saying that the BJP has always respected the judiciary.
Mr Owaisi had taken a swipe at Mr Dubey for his remarks on the top court. “You are tubelights, you are thumbs-up… You are threatening the courts? Article 142 of the Constitution (which gives the Supreme Court special powers) was brought by BR Ambedkar. Ambedkar was more far-sighted than you,” he had said.
The Hyderabad MP warned that such rhetoric could weaken the judiciary and undermine democracy. “Your people are so radicalised that they are threatening the courts. Modi ji, if you do not stop these people who are threatening, the country will weaken and the country won’t forgive,” he said.
Mr Owaisi has said being part of the Indian delegation is not about any party affiliation. “We will have a more detailed meeting before leaving. This is an important task. I will try my best to fulfil this responsibility well,” he said.