New Delhi: All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) supremo Asaduddin Owaisi on Wednesday (July 27) attacked BJP-led Uttar Pradesh over showering flower petals on Kanwariyas in the state, saying the same treatment is not meted out to Muslims. "The BJP-led Uttar Pradesh government is showering flower petals on Kanwariyas using public money. We want them to treat everyone equally. They do not shower flowers on us (Muslims). Instead, they bulldoze our houses,” PTI quoted Owaisi as saying. "If you love one community, you cannot hate another.... If you have faith, then others also have faith," the AIMIM MP added.


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Earlier on Tuesday, sharing several news reports on his Twitter handle, Owaisi had said, "If a Muslim offers prayers in an open place even for a few minutes, it leads to a row. Muslims are facing police bullets, custodial clashes, NSA, UAPA, lynchings, bulldozers just for being Muslims."


Earlier this month, senior officials showered flower petals on Kanwariyas in Uttar Pradesh's Meerut.


An official spokesperson told PTI that UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath conducted an aerial survey of the ongoing Kanwar Yatra in western part of the state on Monday and showered petals on Kanwariyas from the chopper. Adityanath's helicopter reached the Siddhpeeth Parshurameshwar Puramahadev temple in Baghpat on Monday afternoon and flowers were showered on the Kanwariyas from there amidst chants of "Har Har Mahadev".


The Kanwar Yatra is being held in the state after two years as it was suspended earlier due to the Covid-19 pandemic. 


During the Hindu calendar month of 'Saavan', every year the Shiva devotees, also known as Kanwariyas, fetch the holy waters of Ganga to offer at the Shiva temples. These pilgrims visit Haridwar, Gaumukh, and Gangotri in Uttarakhand and Sultanganj in Bihar to bring the waters of Ganga. This water is then offered to Lord Shiva in temples by Kanwariyas in their areas. 


(With PTI inputs)