These are followers of Gandhi's killers: Owaisi after shoe attack in Mumbai

MUMBAI: An unidentified person hurled a shoe at All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) chief Asaduddin Owaisi when he was addressing a rally at Nagpada in south Mumbai on Tuesday night.

He was not hurt and continued his speech after the incident.

The incident took place at around 9.45 pm when he was voicing his opposition on the issue of triple talaq during the rally.

Unfazed by the incident, he said: "I am willing to lay down my life for my democratic rights. These are all frustrated people, who cannot see that the government decision on triple talaq has not been accepted by the masses in general and Muslims in particular."

Owaisi even likened the one who threw the shoe at him to those who killed Mahatma Gandhi. "These people (referring to the person who threw the shoe at him) are the ones who follow the ideology of the killers of Mahatma Gandhi, Govind Pansare, and Narendra Dabholkar," he said.

Without taking any names, Owaisi claimed that such incidents were happening at the behest of people who follow "hate ideologies". He also raised an alarm that such people are getting stronger with each passing day.

However, the Hyderabad MP maintained that such incidents will not "stop us from speaking the truth against them."

Police are going through the CCTV footage and probing the matter.

AIMIM MLA Imtiyaz Jaleel said such things will not stop them from voicing their opinions. "We do not care for such incidents. Some people and parties do not want us to speak the truth. Mr Owaisi continued with his speech (despite the incident). We simply ignore these type of acts," he said.