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Asaduddin Owaisi vs Kiren Rijiju over ‘benefits’ to minorities in India remark
Kiren Rijiju also accused the Congress and some other parties of trying to instil fear among minorities, saying that "they should not try to mislead them".
A verbal tiff broke out between Union minister Kiren Rijiju and All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) chief Asaduddin Owaisi after the Bharatiya Janata Party leader said India is the only country where minorities are given so many facilities.
The AIMIM leader lashed out at Kiren Rijiju, saying he holds a constitutional post, "not a throne", adding that "minority rights are fundamental rights, not charity".
Rijiju, who is the minority affairs minister, on Friday accused the opposition parties of playing politics in the name of minorities, referring to their objection to the special intensive revision of electoral rolls in Bihar.
The BJP leader noted that there are six minority communities in the country, Muslims, Sikhs, Christians, Parsis, Jains, and Buddhists, and said all of them get the same facilities as the majority Hindu community.
"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.
He accused the Congress and some other parties of trying to instil fear among minorities, saying that "they should not try to mislead the minorities".
The Union parliamentary affairs minister, Kiren Rijiju, had also accused the Congress of scoring 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.
Rijiju said the Bharatiya Janata Party is secular and does 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," he said while responding to a question on Owaisi's attack on Bihar electoral roll revision.
However, Rijiju's statements drew the ire of Owaisi, who asked whether being called Pakistani, Bangladeshi, jihadi, or Rohingya every single day a "benefit".
‘Only demanding what Constitution promises’
"Is it “protection” to be lynched? Is it protection that Indian citizens were kidnapped and 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?" the AIMIM chief asked a series of questions in a post on X.
He alleged that the minorities in the nation "are not even second-class citizens anymore. We are hostages".
Owaisi further raked up the Waqf Board row and asked about 'favours' to the minorities, "Can Muslims be members of Hindu Endowment Boards?"
"No. But your Waqf Amendment Act forces non-Muslims onto Waqf Boards — and allows them to form a majority," he added.
The AIMIM leader further alleged that the Centre also discontinued the Maulana Azad National Fellowship, defunded the pre-matric scholarship, limited the post-matric and merit-cum-means scholarships.
"Muslims are now the only group whose numbers have fallen in higher education. Their presence in the informal economy has gone up. They have been among the worst-hit by your economic policies. This is your own govt’s data," Owaisi wrote in his X post.
He claimed that Indian Muslims of today's generation are 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," he added.
He said that the minorities are not asking for more than what the majority community gets. Owaisi said that they are just demanding "what the Constitution promises: social, economic, and political justice".
Rijiju responded to the AIMIM leader and said, "Ok...How come Minorities from our neighbouring countries prefer to come to India, and our Minorities don't migrate?"
The union minister said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi's welfare schemes are for all. "The schemes of the Ministry of Minority Affairs provide additional benefits to the Minorities," he added.
Owaisi further sharpened his attack against Rijiju and called him "Hon'ble Minister Against Minorities".
"According to Hon’ble Minister Against Minorities, if we 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 because of Jammu, Nellie, Gujarat, Moradabad, Delhi etc massacres," he added.
He said it is their history that minorities neither collaborate with nor hide from their "oppressors".
"We know how to fight for our democratic rights and we will inshallah. Stop comparing our great nation with failed states like Pakistan, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Nepal & Sri Lanka. Jai Hind, Jai Samvidhan! Thank you for your attention in this matter!" Owaisi added.
