‘Mulayam Government has done nothing for the welfare of Muslims’
CONTINUING HIS tirade against the government, Minister for Haj and Minorities Welfare Haji Yaqoob Qureshi today dared Chief Minister Mulayam Singh Yadav to sack him from the ministry. Qureshi reiterated his charge that the Yadav government had done nothing for the welfare of Muslim community.
Addressing newsmen here on Monday, after a meeting of All-India Muslim Vikas Manch, the minister said, Ulema (clerics) and other Muslim intellectuals including Delhi Jama Masjid Imam Ahmad Bukhari and former Union Minister CM Ibrahim had advised him not to resign. He, however, said that if the chief minister wanted to remove him he could do so.
The minister said that at the Manch conference in Delhi on May 14 last he had asked the State Government to accept the 10-point charter of demands. The minister said he had then set a deadline of three months to quit if the demands were not accepted. The minister said he was to submit his resignation on Monday but in view of the community’s pressure he deferred the plan.
Qureshi, assailing the government for grabbing the graveyard land in Noida and Greater Noida for commercial purposes, said he too had extended his support to the Dadri movement. The minister today also shot off a letter to the chief minister about grabbing of Noida graveyard land. He said the graveyard was waqf property but Noida authority had disposed it for Appu Ghar.
{{/usCountry}}Qureshi, assailing the government for grabbing the graveyard land in Noida and Greater Noida for commercial purposes, said he too had extended his support to the Dadri movement. The minister today also shot off a letter to the chief minister about grabbing of Noida graveyard land. He said the graveyard was waqf property but Noida authority had disposed it for Appu Ghar.
{{/usCountry}}The minister said that even after a lapse of three months, the State Government had not accepted the demands of the Muslim community regarding reservation in government jobs, education, protection and facilities to weavers and artisans.
The minister said the government had only been making tall claims about the welfare of Muslims but ground realities were different. The minister, who was accompanied by UP United Democratic Front (UPUDF) president Yusuf Qureshi, said he would support any organisation, which highlighted the problems of the community. However, the minister found himself closer to the UDF.
The minister said he would be touring the State in next few months to mobilise support against the Yadav Government. He said resentment was brewing in the Muslim community against the government.