Patna: AIMIM State president Akhtarul Iman on Friday said no ‘Mai ka Lal’ (person) has enough strength to snatch away the voting rights of Muslims in the country.
Reacting to a controversial statement of BJP MLA Hari Bhushan Thakur in which he demanded the withdrawal of voting rights of the Muslim community, Iman said, “How can anyone snatch away the constitutional rights of Muslims. What are you talking about? The Constitution has given us voting rights, no ‘Mai Ka Lal’ can snatch away our constitutional rights.”
Iman was responding to media queries in the premises of Bihar Vidhan Sabha on the opening day of its month-long Budget session.
“Bharat is the country of all religions. It is a country of 135 crore peoples comprising Hindus, Muslims, Sikhs, Christians, and a few other religions. Bharat is not governed by any particular organisation. It is governed by its constitution. The Indian constitution is neither a Quran nor a Puran nor Vedas. It was drafted by Babasaheb Ambedkar in which all people have been given equal rights,” Iman, who is also the AIMIM’s legislative party leader in Bihar Vidhan Sabha, said.
The AIMIM has five MLAs in the 243-member Bihar assembly and Iman represents Purnia district’s Amour seat.
Iman, who was earlier in ruling JD(U), an ally of BJP, before joining the AIMIM in August 2015 also said that the BJP MLA Thakur was issuing “provocative statements” like snatching the voting rights of Muslims with an aim to disturb social harmony in the state.
Earlier on Thursday, BJP MLA Thakur demanded the government to withdraw the right to vote from Muslim community. “In 1947, the country was divided into the name of religion and they got another country. Muslims should go to another country. If they are living here, then I demand from the government that their voting rights be withdrawn. They can live in India as second class citizens,” Thakur, popular for his controversial statements, said on Thursday
Thakur’s statement came in reaction to the remarks made by Hyderabad MP Asaduddin Owaisi’s party MLA Akhtarul Iman, in which the Amour MLA had said that the Muslims in the country should be given facilities in proportion to their population.
Thakur also rejected the general notion that Muslims are a minority in this nation and said that there is no word like a minority in the Constitution.
Contacted over the phone, Iman admitted to this newspaper that he had supported demand for 17% reservation for Muslims in Bihar.
“In Bihar, Muslims have a population of 17%. In a democracy, people are provided shares proportionate to their population. ‘Jiski Jitni Aabadi, Uski Utni Hissedari’ is an old adage in democracy. Hence, Muslims should be given a 17% quota in Bihar,” Iman told TOI over the phone.
Dismissing his party’s MLA Thakur’s statement, BJP state president Sanjay Jaiswal on Friday said, “This country belongs to all and every citizen has equal rights. Each people’s rights have been cent percent secured and protected in the Narendra Modi Government. Therefore, people have unmatched trust in the Modi government. No one should make an attempt to weaken this trust between people and the Modi government by their statements.”
Reacting to a controversial statement of BJP MLA Hari Bhushan Thakur in which he demanded the withdrawal of voting rights of the Muslim community, Iman said, “How can anyone snatch away the constitutional rights of Muslims. What are you talking about? The Constitution has given us voting rights, no ‘Mai Ka Lal’ can snatch away our constitutional rights.”
Iman was responding to media queries in the premises of Bihar Vidhan Sabha on the opening day of its month-long Budget session.
“Bharat is the country of all religions. It is a country of 135 crore peoples comprising Hindus, Muslims, Sikhs, Christians, and a few other religions. Bharat is not governed by any particular organisation. It is governed by its constitution. The Indian constitution is neither a Quran nor a Puran nor Vedas. It was drafted by Babasaheb Ambedkar in which all people have been given equal rights,” Iman, who is also the AIMIM’s legislative party leader in Bihar Vidhan Sabha, said.
The AIMIM has five MLAs in the 243-member Bihar assembly and Iman represents Purnia district’s Amour seat.
Iman, who was earlier in ruling JD(U), an ally of BJP, before joining the AIMIM in August 2015 also said that the BJP MLA Thakur was issuing “provocative statements” like snatching the voting rights of Muslims with an aim to disturb social harmony in the state.
Earlier on Thursday, BJP MLA Thakur demanded the government to withdraw the right to vote from Muslim community. “In 1947, the country was divided into the name of religion and they got another country. Muslims should go to another country. If they are living here, then I demand from the government that their voting rights be withdrawn. They can live in India as second class citizens,” Thakur, popular for his controversial statements, said on Thursday
Thakur’s statement came in reaction to the remarks made by Hyderabad MP Asaduddin Owaisi’s party MLA Akhtarul Iman, in which the Amour MLA had said that the Muslims in the country should be given facilities in proportion to their population.
Thakur also rejected the general notion that Muslims are a minority in this nation and said that there is no word like a minority in the Constitution.
Contacted over the phone, Iman admitted to this newspaper that he had supported demand for 17% reservation for Muslims in Bihar.
“In Bihar, Muslims have a population of 17%. In a democracy, people are provided shares proportionate to their population. ‘Jiski Jitni Aabadi, Uski Utni Hissedari’ is an old adage in democracy. Hence, Muslims should be given a 17% quota in Bihar,” Iman told TOI over the phone.
Dismissing his party’s MLA Thakur’s statement, BJP state president Sanjay Jaiswal on Friday said, “This country belongs to all and every citizen has equal rights. Each people’s rights have been cent percent secured and protected in the Narendra Modi Government. Therefore, people have unmatched trust in the Modi government. No one should make an attempt to weaken this trust between people and the Modi government by their statements.”
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