"We Aren't In Habit Of Fleeing...": A Owaisi, Kiren Rijiju Spar Over Minorities

NDTV

07-07-2025

New Delhi:
On Monday Union Minority Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju and All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen chief Asaduddin Owaisi sparred on X (formerly Twitter) over the condition of minorities in India, after the former said such communities had more benefits and protection than the majority Hindus.
To make his point, Rijiju declared that minority community members don't migrate to neighbouring nations - i.e., Indian Muslims do not leave for Pakistan or Bangladesh, though he didn't mention names - because the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party"provides additional benefits to minorities".
"Prime Minister Narendra Modi ji 's welfare schemes are for all. The schemes of the Ministry of Minority Affairs provide additional benefits to the minorities," he told Owaisi on X.
Owaisi hit back swiftly. The AIMIM boss said Indian Muslims chose to stay in India, not because of 'comforts' but because they are courageous enough to continue to fight for their rights.
"We don't flee... we fight for our rights. Don't compare India to failed states."
"According to the Minister Against Minorities, if we don't migrate it means we are happy. Actually, we are not in the habit of fleeing," Owaisi said, "... we did not run away from the British, we did not run away during Partition... our history is proof we neither collaborate with our oppressors nor hide from them."
Rijiju made his original remark in an interview with the Indian Express and then posted an excerpt from that discussion on X; he said that in the past 11 years Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government had "championed the principle of ' sabka saath, sabka vikas...'
Ok... How come Minorities from our neighbouring countries prefer to come to India & our Minorities don't migrate? Prime Minister @narendramodi ji's welfare schemes are for all. The schemes of the Ministry of Minority Affairs provide additional benefits to the Minorities.
— Kiren Rijiju (@KirenRijiju) July 7, 2025
This, he claimed, had "ensured that minority communities are active and equal participants in India's growth story". And to underline his point Rijiju said, "...minority communities are receiving more funds and support from the government than the majority community... i.e., the Hindus."
The minister's remarks were contested fiercely by Owaisi, who had offered the ruling BJP unstinted support after the Pahalgam terror attack and during the military conflict with Pakistan.
The AIMIM chief pointed out that "India's minorities are not even second-class citizens anymore", and referred to the bulldozing of buildings owned by Muslims despite Supreme Court orders.
"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 Indians were 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? Is it an 'honour' to be the target of hate speeches from no less than the Prime Minister of India?" he asked.
"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," Owaisi thundered.
He also grilled Rijiju over controversial changes to the Waqf law, including provisions that will see non-Muslim members on the central and state waqf boards. The government has insisted these and other changes to the waqf boards will only ensure fairness and transparency.