By Faisal Fareed, TwoCircles.net,
Lucknow: With an eye on coming assembly elections, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) tried to gain ground among Muslims by organising an Alpsankhyak Swabhiman Sammelan (minority self respect conference) at Lucknow on Monday.
Former union ministers Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi and Shahnawaz Hussain were flown in from New Delhi to strike a chord with the Muslims. The function witnessed good number of Muslims with skull caps and some even with long beards.
Both the BJP leaders tried their best to explain BJP’s stand and blamed Congress for the sufferings of Muslims. The BJP leaders also tried to inculcate a feeling of confidence among Muslims so that the untouchability tag of BJP among the community is eradicated.
Reacting over the Bharatpur riots in Rajasthan, BJP leader and national spokesperson Shahnawaz Hussain remarked: “Nine Muslims lost their lives. Did Rahul Gandhi visit the place? Congress is ruling both Rajasthan and centre then why did they allow this riot to occur?”
Taking a dig at the other political parties, Hussain claimed that the political parties only offered scarf and skull cap to Muslims during iftar parties. “Is this going to solve the problems of Muslims? The community understands the gimmicks of these self styled politicians,” he said. He also lashed out at the Congress claiming that the Sachar Committee has revealed that Muslims’ condition is worse but it had occurred during Congress regime only.
Meanwhile responding to a query over Gujarat CM Narendra Modi, BJP leader Shahnawaz Hussain claimed that the state is on development path and there has been no incident of riots for past nine years.
In his address national Vice-President of BJP, Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi warned the Muslims to remain cautious of political parties who survive by instilling fear of BJP in their heart.
Naqvi continued his diatribe against Chief Minister Mayawati. “It is a curse to be a Muslim in UP these days. Any one having beard and wearing cap is branded as terrorist. Innocent Muslims are languishing in jail. There has been no development of Muslim community and the funds have been diverted,” he said.
Several other BJP leaders extended an olive branch to the Muslims to come out of fear psychosis and join BJP. “Either live with intimidation that BJP will win or tread your own journey,” they claimed.