"We Aren't In Habit Of Fleeing...": A Owaisi, Kiren Rijiju Spar Over Minorities
Union Minority Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju and All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen chief Asaduddin Owaisi sparred over the condition of minorities in India, after the former said members from such communities had more benefits and were more protected than those from the majority.
To make his point, Rijiju had claimed minority community members don't migrate to neighbouring nations - i.e., Indian Muslims do not leave for Pakistan, though he didn't mention names - because the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party "provides additional benefits to minorities".
"Prime Minister Narendra Modiji's welfare schemes are for all. The schemes of the Ministry of Minority Affairs provide additional benefits to the minorities," he replied to Owaisi on X.
Owaisi hit back swiftly.
He said Indian Muslims choose to stay in India, not because of the 'comforts' but because they are courageous enough to continue to fight for their rights. "We don't flee... we fight for our rights. Don't compare India to failed states," the AIMIM boss said.
"According to the Minister Against Minorities, if we (i.e., Indian Muslims) don't migrate it means we are happy. Actually, we are not in the habit of fleeing; we did not run away from the British, we did not run away during Partition, and we did not run away... Our history is proof we neither collaborate with our oppressors nor hide from them. We know how to fight for our rights..."
Rijiju made his original remark in an interview with the Indian Express and then posted an excerpt from that discussion on X; he said that in the past 11 years Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government had "championed the principle of 'sabka saath, sabka vikas...'
This, he claimed, had "ensured that minority communities are active and equal participants in India's growth story". And to underline his point Rijiju said, "The main point we have to understand is that minority communities are receiving more funds and support from the government than the majority community... i.e., the Hindus."
The minister's remarks were contested, fiercely, by Owaisi, who bristled at the suggestion that minority communities' rights were viewed as "charity" rather than fundamental.
A furious Owaisi - who offered the ruling BJP unstinted support after the Pahalgam terror attack and during the military conflict with Pakistan - also asked some tough questions.
The AIMIM chief raged "India's minorities are not even second-class citizens anymore", and referred to the bulldozing of buildings owned by Muslims despite Supreme Court orders.
"Is it a 'benefit' to be called Pakistani, Bangladeshi, jihadi, or Rohingya every single day? Is it 'protection' to be lynched? Is it protection that Indians were pushed into Bangladesh?"
"Is it a privilege to watch our homes, masjids, and mazaars being bulldozed illegally? To be made socially, politically, and economically invisible? Is it an 'honour' to be the target of hate speeches from no less than the Prime Minister of India?" he asked.
"Indian Muslims are the only group whose children are now worse off than their parents or grandparents. Intergenerational mobility has reversed. Muslim-concentrated areas are the ones most starved of public infrastructure and basic services," Owaisi thundered.
He also grilled Rijiju over controversial changes to the Waqf law, including provisions that will see non-Muslim members on the central and state waqf boards. The government has insisted these and other changes to the waqf boards will only ensure fairness and transparency.
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