Hyderabad Member of Parliament (MP) Asaduddin Owaisi quoted Pakistani revolutionary poet Habib Jalib on July 29 while speaking on Budget 2024 in the Lok Sabha.
Owaisi, the president of All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM), read lines from Habib Jalibs’s famous Urdu nazm ‘Dastoor’ to criticise the ‘discriminatory’ Budget presented by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in the Parliament last week.
“I wanted to say something about employment. A member just said jobs are being provided. To this I say…phool shakon pe khilne lage, tum kaho, jaam rindon ko milne lage tum kaho, chaak sinon ke silne lage tum kaho, is khule jhhhot ko, zehan ki luut ko, main nahīn manta main nahin jaanta..(Flowers have blossomed, you may say; wine is being offered to those who drink, you may say; wounds are being healed, you may say; this open lie, this loot of minds, I refuse to accept, I refuse to acknowledge)” Owaisi said, emphasising that the government may keep claiming jobs have been given, but he doesn’t buy it.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman presented Budget 2024 in the Parliament on July 23. The Budget 2024 came against the backdrop of a changed political landscape in the country. The BJP fell short of the majority mark in the Lok Sabha elections 2024, forcing it to rely on itsNational Democratic Alliance(NDA) allies, including N Chandrababu Naidu’s Telugu Desam Party (TDP) and Nitish Kumar’s Janata Dal (United), to form the government at the Centre.
Dastoor, by Habib Jalib
‘Dastoor’ by Habib Jalib is often quoted during protests and demonstrations. In 1962, Pakistani military dictator Ayub Khan’s enforced an indirect election of an executive president through an electoral college, instead of direct democracy. Jalib called the dictator out and wrote ‘Dastoor.’ The ‘nazm’ basically vents the political frustration of the ordinary Pakistani. Jalib would go on singing the poem in public gatherings and on stages.
Earlier, Owaisi highlighted that Muslims were allegedly ignored in the Budget 2024.