Opposition roasts BJP over Bidhuri's Islamophobic slurs, Danish Ali considers leaving Parliament

Drawing a parallel between the persecution of Jews under Adolf Hitler in World War II Germany and the persecution of Muslims under Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government, the Opposition on Friday launched a stinging attack on the ruling BJP for not reining in South Delhi MP Ramesh Bidhuri.

An RSS activist since his college days, Bidhuri, speaking in Hindi in Parliament on Thursday 21 September, used language worthy of a street-side brawl for Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) MP Danish Ali, calling him a 'bhadwa', 'katwa', 'Muslim ugravadi', and 'atankvadi'.

The incident took place during a discussion on India's recent Chandrayaan-3 mission in the Lok Sabha on Thursday night.

Reacting to the Islamophobic slurs, All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen MP Asaduddin Owaisi said there was “nothing shocking” about Bidhuri’s remarks and no action would be taken against him.

Attacking PM Modi, Owasi wrote in Hindi on X: “There is nothing “shocking” in this video. BJP is a bottomless abyss, so every day a new low is reached. I am sure that no action will be taken against him. There is a possibility that in future he will be made the BJP Delhi State President. Today, Muslims in India are being treated the same way as Jews were treated in Hitler’s Germany. I suggest @narendramodi to dub this video in Arabic soon and send it to your friends".

Rashtriya Janata Dal president Lalu Prasad also attacked PM Modi and held him responsible for giving rise to a “depraved social and political culture” in the country.

“The prime minister has given birth to a distorted socio-political culture against the country’s rich parliamentary traditions in which one of its MPs glorifies the terrorist who murdered Father of the Nation Gandhiji. At the behest of the PM, the indecent, unparliamentary and trivial language that a BJP MP is using against an opposition MP inside the Parliament is highly objectionable, condemnable and worrying for democracy and society. This is not their immortality period but their poisonous period,” he wrote on X.

Demanding action against Bidhuri, AAP MP Sanjay Singh, who was suspended from the house in the past,  termed the language Bidhuri used as that of “a goon, mafia”.

Defence minister Rajnath Singh apologised for Bidhuri’s remarks and Lok Speaker Om Birla has warned the BJP MP of strict action, but the Congress said apology is simply not acceptable.

“This is simply not acceptable, it’s a half-hearted apology, an afterthought. What Bidhuri has said is an insult to Parliament,” said Congress MP Jairam Ramesh.

Meanwhile, Danish Ali has written a letter to Birla demanding an inquiry into the matter by a privilege committee.

"I request you to refer this matter to the committee of privileges under rule 227 of the rules of procedure and conduct of business in Lok Sabha for examination, investigation, and report," Ali said in his letter.

“Speaker will conduct an enquiry or else with a heavy heart, I'm also thinking of leaving this Parliament because this can't be tolerated. Is this why we are elected, is this why our ancestors sacrificed their lives for freedom... they (BJP) just did not insult me and my followers but they insulted the whole nation.” said Ali.

RJD MP Manoj Jha said that though he was saddened by the incident, he was not surprised that such language was used against a Muslim fellow parliamentarian. “We need to think that if such words were used for an MP in Parliament, then to what kind of language against Muslims, Dalits is legitimacy being given? Till now, the PM could not say a word on Ramesh Bidhuri….” he said, adding that this was the “truth” of PM’s ‘Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam’.