Owaisi denied permission to hold meeting in Azamgarh

All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen chief Asaduddin Owaisi was on Saturday denied permission by authorities to hold public meetings in the district in the wake of tension in Mubarakpur area.

Application to hold public meeting was received from Owaisi's party but he was denied permission, Azamgarh District Magistrate Suhash L Y said.

Owaisi is on a two-day visit to Uttar Pradesh. Earlier in the day, about 100 activists of Hindu Yuva Vahini were taken into custody in neighbouring Siddarthnagar when they were staging a protest at Bhadariya crossing against the visit of Owaisi.

The Yuva Vahini had announced that they would protest against Owaisi's refusal to chant 'Bharat Mata ki jai'. Local Bharatiya Janata Party Member of Parliament Jagdambika Pal had also demanded a ban on his visit to the district and alleged that SP government was assisting him in vitiating the atmosphere.

Addressing his partymen at a meeting, Owaisi exhorted them to prepare for the 2017 Assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh. "Start preparations for the elections so that our people could have representation in the Vidhan Sabha," he told party workers in Siddarthnagar.

"We are neither against any religion nor against any person," Owaisi added.