Hate speech charges against Akbaruddin Owaisi baseless, says Asaduddin

Hyderabad: Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (MIM) on Thursday said the allegations of hate speech levelled against party MLA Akbaruddin Owaisi were "baseless" and the matter would be decided in the courts.

The entire episode is a conspiracy hatched against the Hyderabad-based party by Andhra Pradesh's Congress government in connivance with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), said Asaduddin Owaisi, the MIM president and brother of the jailed legislator.

"Akbaruddin Owaisi, by coming back (from London), has clearly shown he wants justice to be done to himself. This is a baseless allegation made against him. The government, in connivance with BJP, has conspired against MIM party. The courts will decide whether he was right or wrong," he told reporters in Hyderabad.

The MIM president claimed that the entire episode was a conspiracy hatched by the Congress in connivance by the BJP.

Akbaruddin was on Wednesday sent to 14 days judicial remand in Adilabad district, a day after he was arrested on sedition, criminal conspiracy and other charges for making a "hate speech" in December.

Asaduddin, Lok Sabha member from Hyderabad, and party supporters on Thursday offered prayers for the 42-year-old MLA from Chandrayangutta in the Andhra Pradesh capital.

MIM, which has a strong political base in Hyderabad's Old City areas, had been a Congress ally. However, MIM withdrew support to the Congress both at the Centre and state late in 2012, but both parties continue to share power in the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC).

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