‘India's minorities are hostages': Owaisi slams Rijiju over ‘benefits' claim; says Muslims are called ‘jihadi', ‘Rohingya', and ‘Pakistani'

Time of India

4 hours ago

NEW DELHI:
AIMIM
chief
Asaduddin Owaisi
on Monday lashed out at Union Minister
Kiren Rijiju
after the BJP leader claimed that minorities in India enjoy more benefits and protections than the majority.
In a long post on X, Owaisi said Rijiju was not showing the true picture of what Indian Muslims go through and reminded him to follow his duties as a minister under the Constitution.
Rijiju on X had stated that 'India is the only country where the minorities get more benefits and protections than the majority community!'
This remark triggered a strong response from Owaisi.
Owaisi claimed that Rijiju was speaking like a ruler instead of someone holding a constitutional post.
"You are a Minister of the Indian Republic, not a monarch. Kiren Rijiju, you hold a constitutional post, not a throne. Minority rights are fundamental rights, not charity," he said.
He questioned Rijiju's idea of 'benefits' by pointing to the abuse and violence Muslims face.
"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 Indian citizens were kidnapped and pushed into Bangladesh?" Owaisi questioned.
The Hyderabad MP also raised concerns over the bulldozing of Muslim properties.
"Is it a privilege to watch our homes, masjids, and mazaars being bulldozed illegally? To be made socially, politically, and economically invisible?" he wrote.
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He further alleged that hate speeches were being made by top leaders.
"Is it an 'honour' to be the target of hate speeches from no less than the Prime Minister of India?" he said.
Owaisi claimed that Muslims in India were no longer treated equally as citizens.
"India's minorities are not even second-class citizens anymore. We are hostages," he said.
Owaisi alleged that Rijiju should answer why there is no religious parity in board memberships.
"If you want to talk about 'favours', answer this: 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," Owaisi said.
The AIMIM leader accused the government of slashing key scholarships for Muslim students. He cited government data and said that Muslims are being left behind.
"You discontinued the Maulana Azad National Fellowship.
You defunded the pre-matric scholarship. You limited the post-matric and merit-cum-means scholarships. All because they benefited Muslim students," he wrote.
"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 said.
Furthermore, Owaisi said Muslim families are seeing a decline in progress across generations.
"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," he stated.
He ended by saying that minorities in India are only asking for the justice promised by the Constitution.
"We are not asking to be compared with other minorities of other countries. We are not asking for more than what the majority community gets. We are demanding what the Constitution promises: social, economic, and political justice."