Bihar: AIMIM MLA courts controversy during oath ceremony, wants ‘Hindustan’ replaced with ‘Bharat’

New Delhi: Akhtarul Iman, the newly elected AIMIM MLA in Bihar, sparked off controversy on the floor of Bihar Assembly on Monday as he objected to word ‘Hindustan’ while taking oath.

While being administered oath of office by pro-term Speaker Jitan Ram Manjhi in Urdu, AIMIM MLA insisted that the draft for oath should have ‘Bharat’ in place Hindustan.

Pro-term Speaker was taken aback by this demand, however, the legislator was allowed to used word Bharat.

Akhtarul Iman, when quizzed by journalists said, “I had raised no objections. I had simply made a point that whenever we read the Preamble of the Constitution, in whichever language, it mentions the word Bharat. In the light of this fact I felt that since we are taking oath in the name of the Constitution, it would be proper if use the same term for the name of our country.”

Oath is taken as per the Constitution which mentions ‘Bharat’ everywhere. I wanted to know whether it’s okay to say ‘Hindustan’ or shall I say ‘Bharat’ during oath-taking today. We’re lawmakers, we should place the Constitution above all: Akhtarul Iman, AIMIM MLA
#Bihar pic.twitter.com/nnYppMBp0I

— ANI (@ANI) November 23, 2020

The legislator however claimed that he had “no problem with word Hindustan”.

Meanwhile, BJP leader and Minister Pramod Kumar took exception to Iman’s objection and said, “those having problem with ‘Hindustan’ should go to Pakistan”.

In recently held Bihar Assembly elections, Owaisi-led AIMIM won 5 seats — Amour, Kochadhamam, Jokihat, Baisi, and Bahadurgunj.

Akhtarul Iman, party president in Bihar, won from Amour in Purnia.