Maharashtra MLA suspended for refusing to say 'Bharat Mata Ki Jai'

Other parties also backed the action against him.

"I am proud of being an Indian," Pathan  was quoted as saying in media reports.

Describing his suspension for the rest of this session as "the murder of democracy", he said, "I say 'Hindustan Zindabad'. Not Bharat Mata Ki Jai."

Earlier, Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) president Asaduddin Owaisi refused to chant 'Bharat mata ki jai'.

The AIMIM chief was commenting on the RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat's demand that every Indian should chant 'Bharat mata ki jai'. "But I will never say 'Bharat mata ki jai' because the Indian constitution has not made this slogan mandatory. I will not chant the slogan even if they put a knife to my neck," Owaisi had declared.

In his speech, Owaisi also slammed the encounter of alleged LeT operative Ishrat Jahan and extended support to the families of Muslim youth who have either been killed in encounters or tried for alleged terror activities in Maharashtra.

Maharashtra Finance Minister Sudhir Mungantiwar prayed that the Almighty Allah grant Owaisi some sense. "I have asked the Latur district administration to conduct a probe into Owaisi's speech. Nobody is entitled to make such statements in the name of freedom of speech."