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BJP will take care of Muslim welfare: Advani

By IANS

New Delhi: The main opposition Bharatiya Janata Party’s prime ministerial hopeful L.K. Advani Sunday assured his party would take care of the welfare of the Muslims if voted to power.

“Irrespective of what percentage of Muslims vote for the BJP and the NDA, our government, if voted into office by the people of India, will work for the welfare, development and security of Muslims with the same commitment as we shall show in respect of non-Muslims. This is my solemn assurance,” Advani said.

He was addressing a women’s conference organised by the BJP’s minority cell in the capital.

The BJP leader, identified with the Hindutva hard liners within his own party, said: “Since most of the people gathered here are Muslims, let me be more specific. I greatly value the contribution of Indian Muslims to the evolution of India’s culture, to India’s fight for freedom from colonial rule, and, in the post-1947 era, to the building of a strong and prosperous India.”

“Just because a section of the Muslim leadership mistakenly, and for its own vested interests, pursued the flawed policy of “two nation” theory, and brought about the tragic division of India, there is no justification to view Indian Muslims today through the prism of what happened 60 years ago,” he added.

The BJP leader said his party was not against minorities but “minoritism”.

He said: “Some political parties in India, purely for votebank considerations, want Muslims to remain forever in the minority mindset.”

“Their politics of ‘minoritism’ is neither helping the nation’s development nor the development of minorities themselves.”

“It is for this reason that I say that the BJP is anti-minoritism but not anti-minorities,” he said.