Congress MP and the party’s candidate from Thiruvananthapuram, Shashi Tharoor has claimed that the experience of Muslims in recent years under BJP-led government at the Centre is not good. Tharoor’s remarks have come after All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) chief Asaduddin Owaisi compared the situtation of Muslims in India to that of Jews in Germany during dictator Adolf Hitler’s era.
In an interaction with news agency ANI, Tharoor criticised the BJP-led government for not having a Muslim minister in the Cabinet. He also accused the BJP of wanting to change the identity of the nation.
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“In recent years, the experience of Muslims has not been good. This is happening for the first time in this country that no Muslim is an MP in Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha. No Muslim is a minister in the cabinet. This is a wrong thing that the BJP has done,” said Tharoor.
“Our (Congress) government was the reflection of the whole nation. But, they want to change the identity of the nation with their slogan of ‘Hind, Hindu, Hindutva’. This is not good,” he added.
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What AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi said
In an interview with news agency ANI, Asaduddin Owaisi said, “The position of Muslims in today’s India is the same as the situation which Jews witnessed or experienced during Hitler’s era in the 1930s. The gas chamber was the last step, before that movies were made, hate speeches took place, there was a whole process to it.”
Owaisi also slammed PM Modi’s recent ‘Mangalsutra’ remarks in criticism of Congress’ manifesto and claimed that the Prime Minister termed all minorities as “infiltrators”.
“Our PM is saying that Mangalsutra will be removed from Hindu women and given to Muslims. 17 crore Muslims are being called infiltrators. Whether Modi ji will remain or not, the country will remain. The Total Fertility Rate (TFR) among Muslim women has fallen, this is the government’s own data. To win an election you are calling all minorities as infiltrators. Hitler also used to say the same thing to Jews that they were not original Germans. Does this language suit the Prime Minister?” Owaisi said.