By TCN News,
Ludhiana: Apropos the recent remarks by BJP’s Sakshi Maharaj and its ally Shiv Sena’s Sanjay Raut, Maulana Habib-ur-Rehman Saani Ludhianvi has warned that the silence of his community should not be treated as its cowardice.
Strongly condemning the un-Parliamentary language by Sakshi Maharaj and Raut’s write up about revoking of voting rights to Muslims, Maulana Ludhianvi, also the Shahi Imam of Punjab, said, “These fundamentalist leaders should hold their tongue before issuing such statements to incite the community. Silence of the (Muslim) community should not be treated as its cowardice.”
“India is our country and we will live in it with pride. Voting is the right of every Indian, which no fundamentalist can snatch from us. Further, comments such as how many children should be born or not … if these people who are raising such issues, were they blessed with just one child, they would have understood the fact that children are blessings of God, not a burden,” Ludhianvi, who is also the national president of Majlis Ahrar Islam Hind Party, told a press conference here.
Hitting out at Sakshi Maharaj for making inflammatory statement, the Shahi Imam said that according to government’s records, the population of India is 125 crores, out of which, about 20 crores are Muslims, “which in itself is an indication of who is increasing the population.”
He further added that after coming to power, the BJP has fully exposed itself with its leaders issuing such hate statements. “The saffron party is a double edged sword, which is ready to cut their near and dears ones. On one hand, the Prime Minister of India says in France that Indian government respects all religions and on the other hand the BJP MPs and leaders from its alliance parties are threatening to snatch the voting rights of Muslims,” he said.
“Our community was not afraid of cruel English government during freedom struggle and the members are not scared of even these leaders,” he said, adding, “We were born in our dear country and will live here forever. No one can throw us from our country”.
Maulana Usman Rehmani, Naib Shahi Imam Punjab, Hassan Qaisar, Qari Mohatram, Shah Nawaz, Akram Ali and Muhammad Mustkeem, private secretary to Shahi Imam, were among those present at the press conference.