From Washington Post
by Rama Lakshmi
AURANGABAD, India — Nearly 60,000 Muslims had crammed into the dusty parade grounds here last October to hear Asaduddin Owaisi, the inspirational young leader who promises a new political future for India’s Muslims. Just before Owaisi arrived in his white SUV, young teenagers on motorcycles rode in shouting, “Look, look who has come! The lion has come!”
A burst of firecrackers filled the grounds as Owaisi took the podium. And after reciting a short prayer, the southern Indian politician launched into a sharp-edged stump speech about the discrimination Muslims face finding jobs, accessing bank loans and dealing with the police.
[Muslims fear rising tide of Hindu nationalism in Modi’s India]
“This is our country as much as it is yours. We are not renters, we are also owners of this land. We should get our rights,” Owaisi said, before he told youths to pray regularly and pursue college degrees. Fans climbed onto the stage to shake his hand and later surrounded his car for nearly a half-hour, delaying his departure.
“I have never seen such a fearless leader before,” said Syed Jawad, a 22-year-old dairy shop owner who watched Owaisi here in this western city about 200 miles from Mumbai. “Owaisi is the new messiah for us.”
A third-term member of Parliament from a small party in southern India, he has continued to emerge as a rising star in Muslim politics by tapping into the growing anxieties of India’s 170 million Muslims following the sharp rise of Hindu nationalist forces after the election of Prime Minister Narendra Modimore than a year ago.
Owaisi, 46, is being hailed as a “superstar of the Muslim community,” a “truth-speaking angry young man” and “a ray of hope” among India’s Muslims. Muslims make up 14 percent of India’s 1.2 billion population but have historically had little political influence.
