'You call us jihadi, what about Ram Madhav': Owaisi's sharp attack over ‘Track 2’ talks with Pakistan

ALl republic of india Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) mounted a vituperative assail on the Bharatiya Janata company (BJP) and its ideologic parent Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) on Tuesday over reports of Indian and Pakistani delegations comprising politicians along with retired military officials and diplomats participating in “Track” 2 discussions.‘Track 2’ discussions were held on the margins of a regional security conference organised in Colombo this week by a London-based think tank, HT reported last week, citing people familiar with the matter.The Indian delegation included Ram Madhav, a politician closely associated with the RSS who served as national general secretary of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) during 2014-2020 and is currently president of India Foundation, a New Delhi-based think tank, Gen MM Naravane, who served as Indian Army chief during 2019-2022, and Ruchi Ghanashyam, a former Indian envoy to the UK who was among the first women diplomats to serve in the high commission in Islamabad in the late 1990s, people familiar with developments in New Delhi, Colombo and Islamabad said.Owaisi's sharp attackAIMIM president and Hyderabad MP Asaduddin Owaisi launched a sharp attack on what he described as the double standard surrounding Indian Muslims, with labels like “Pakistani” and "jihadi" given to them.He questions reports of Ram Madhav engaging in dialogue with Pakistan, asking why such engagement is acceptable when done by someone associated with the RSS but would attract outrage if done by others.“…You call us Pakistanis, jihadis and Bangladeshis. Then why is Ram Madhav engaging in backchannel diplomacy with Pakistan on behalf of the RSS?” Owaisi was heard saying in a video shared on his X handle. “This is the same Pakistan from where the terrorists responsible for the Pahalgam attack came and killed 26 Indians. This is the same Pakistan that, according to you, supported the Delhi riots in which around 50 people, both Hindus and Muslims, lost their lives. Tell us, TV channels-how is it acceptable for Ram Madhav to be talking to Pakistan?” he said.He emphatically stated that Indian Muslims have no allegiance to Pakistan, noting that their ancestors chose to remain in India during Partition.“What do we have to do with Pakistan? Our elders chose not to migrate to Pakistan during Partition. They accepted India as their homeland, and, God willing, we will continue to live here. You may continue to oppress us, but remember-we are not going to leave this land. We were born here, we will live here with dignity, we will fight for our rights here, we will choose our leaders here, and on this very land we will secure all the rights that belong to us,” Owaisi said."Those who abuse us - I am holding up a mirror to you today. Now tell me, what do you have to say about this?" Owaisi added.Meanwhile, Ram Madhav dismissed reports of Track 2 talks involving Indian and Pakistani delegations at a conference in Colombo and his association with it, calling it a “totally wrong portrayal” of what happened at the event.“It was not any track-2 dialogue. It was IISS annual South Asia Dialogue, which was attended by scholars from India, Sri Lanka, US, UK, Afghanistan and Pakistan. Even officials attended this dialogue in the past. No track-2 is held with so many nations. I did not attend the two-day dialogue. I was invited to speak at a session, which I did and left. Complete spin to a non-story,” a Times of India report quoted Ram Madhav as saying.The back channel engagement in Colombo came a little more than a month after senior RSS functionary Dattatreya Hosabale noted during an interview in May that the government should protect India’s security and dignity in the face of the actions of Pakistan’s military and political establishment, and said: “But at the same time, we need not close the doors. We should always be ready to engage them in a dialogue.”