AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi
Credit: PTI Photo
AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi kicked up a storm on Tuesday when he chanted 'Jai Palestine' while taking oath as an MP in the Lok Sabha.
Since then, Owaisi has doubled down on his stance while Union Minister of Parliamentary Affairs Kiren Rijiju said that a study of the rules would need to be carried out to see if what Owaisi did was constitutional.
"We do not have any enmity with Palestine or any other country. While taking the oath is it proper for any member to raise the slogan praising another country...We will have to check the rules if it is appropriate...," he said.
The MP today hit back saying "Let them do whatever they want. I also know a little bit about the Constitution. These empty threats will not work on me."
Here is what the Constitution says about disqualification:
As per Article 102, membership can be disqualified under various grounds. These include - holding any office of profit under the Government of India or the Government of any State, other than an office declared by Parliament by law not to disqualify its holder, if they are of unsound mind and is declared as such by an incompetent court, if a person is not a citizen of India, or has voluntarily acquired the citizenship of a foreign State, or is under any acknowledgement of allegiance or adherence to a foreign State, and if any law of the Parliament disqualifies the individual.
Owaisi's 'Jai Palestine' chant has been chalked up as 'allegiance or adherence to a foreign State' by some with BJP IT chief Amit Malviya sharing an excerpt of the Constitution saying it is grounds for removal.
Rijiju, however, has clarified that India is 'neither opposed to any country nor are we enemies of any'.
Owaisi's chant comes amid Israel's attack on the Gaza Strip which has left many Palestinians dead and many more displaced.