Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Hyderabad Lok Sabha candidate, Kompalle Madhavi Latha made controversial remarks against her rival Asaddudin Owaisi, referring to him as a ‘Razakar.’ She went on to allege that Hindus in his constituency are “unsafe” because of the AIMIM president.
“Women are unable to walk in the streets without fear. A Hindu is unable to walk safely back home after praying at a temple. Even today, some people urinate in temples, this is not a muslim but an individual acting as per the orders of Razakar,” Madhavi said at the pre-release event of Razakar: The Silent Genocide of Hyderabad on Wednesday, March 13.
She further alleged, “Owaisi himself claims to be a Razakar. He does this to create a rift within the two communities. We must stop encouraging the Razakar who are responsible for trafficking women from both Muslim and Hindu communities.”
The Razakar is a paramilitary group formed by Qasim Razvi to crush the freedom struggle led by the peasants in the then Hyderabad state. He was the former president of the MIM. The Razakars committed several atrocities against rebellions fighting against the oppressive Nizam state. This of course included Muslims. But the trailer and promotions of the movie portrays Muslims as barbarians. The narrative of Razakar clearly suggests that anyone belonging to the Muslim community is deeply villainous while the Hindus pass off as honourable and saintly.
Read: A movie on Razakars' violent history in BJP's arsenal for Telangana
Speaking about the film, Madhavi claimed that Razakar narrates history which has been “wrongly written” in the school books for the past 75 years. She said the film will remove the blindfolds. “It will tell us how a true muslim must be. It will tell us how a good hindu was tortured by Razakar..,” Madhavi said.
Speaking about the elections, Madhavi said that the poll battle is a ‘Dharma Yuddham’ aimed at ‘putting an end to the Razakars.’
Razakar: The Silent Genocide of Hyderabad is releasing on March 15, Friday, just days ahead of the Lok Sabha elections. The propaganda film is produced by BJP leader Gudur Narayana.
Several groups have already objected to the movie’s release fearing that the film would create communal violence in the state. A Public Interest Litigation (PIL) has already been filed in the Telangana High Court seeking a ban on the film.