New Delhi: Calling the BJP “secular” and the Congress “most communal”, Union minister Kiren Rijiju lashed out at opposition parties on Friday for questioning the Special Intensive Revision of the electoral rolls in Bihar and accused them of playing politics in the name of minorities.
The minority affairs minister said there is no country in the world that gives as much facilities to minorities as India does and asserted that all citizens are treated equally here.
Asked about claims made by certain leaders that the Elections Commission’s (EC) Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of the electoral rolls in Bihar is aimed against minorities, Rijiju said, “I only want to say that there are six minority communities in the country. Repeatedly, the Congress and some other parties try to instill fear among minorities. They should not try to mislead the minorities.”
Minority communities in India comprise Muslims, Sikhs, Christians, Parsis, Jains and Buddhists, he said, adding that all of them get the same facilities that the majority Hindus get.
“Minorities are also given additional protection and facilities. There is no country in this world that gives so much facilities to minorities. The politics being played in the name of minorities to take political advantage is not right,” Rijiju said.
The way the Congress and some parties have treated Muslims like a vote bank for the last 75 years, that should stop, the parliamentary affairs minister said.
“This is harmful for Muslims while the Congress benefits. The Congress scores political benefits by using Muslims as a vote bank. The Congress ensured that Muslims remain poor, now they should not shout ‘Muslim, Muslim’ and insult them,” he said.
“We (the BJP) are secular, we do not do politics on the basis of religion or cast. The Congress and these people are the most communal. They keep doing ‘Muslim, Muslim’ and take political advantage while keeping them poor,” Rijiju said in response to a question on All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) chief Asaduddin Owaisi’s attack on the SIR of the electoral rolls in Bihar.
“We see everyone as equal, (Prime Minister Narendra) Modiji talks about ‘sabka sath, sabka vikas’, which means everyone is equal. Muslims are as safe in the country as Hindus. The freedom that is there in India is not there in other countries,” he said.
Slamming opposition parties, Rijiju said they first scared Muslims in the name of citizenship and now doing the same with the special revision of electoral rolls.
“The Election Commission is doing a great job. The attempt to attack a constitutional institution by the Congress should stop,” he said.
Leaders of several INDIA bloc parties met the EC over the SIR issue on Wednesday and raised concerns over its timing, alleging that more than two crore voters of Bihar may be disenfranchised due to this mammoth exercise being carried out just ahead of the Assembly polls in the state.
The EC said on Thursday that it has decoded the entire exercise to a group of opposition parties to assuage their fears.
