New Delhi:
Opposition leaders rapidly respond to a comment by Prime Minister Narendra Modi that young Muslims would not need to repair puncture for livelihood if the vaqf virtue – or qualities for charitable or religious purposes under Islamic law – was used “honestly”.
Addressing the inauguration ceremony of an airport in Hisar, Haryana yesterday, the Prime Minister said that millions of hectares of land are Waqf property, but were misused. “If Waqf properties were used honestly, Muslim youth would not need to earn livelihood from repairing a bicycle puncture. But these assets only benefited some land mafia. This mafia was robbing land related to Dalits, backward classes and widows,” he said that these issues would be addressed.
AIMIM Chief and Hyderabad MP Asaduddin Owaisi said back on the comment, saying that if Shanth (Rashtriya Swayamsevak Shangh or RSS, conceptual parents of BJP) used their ideology and resources in the interest of the country, then the Prime Minister would not have needed to sell “tea in childhood”. Mr. Owasi asked what Prime Minister Modi did for the poor – Hindus or Muslims – in 11 years that his government has been in power. “The biggest reason for what happened to Waqf properties is that Waqf laws were always weak. Modi’s Waqf modification will weaken him further,” he wrote on X.
Congress Rajya Sabha MP Imran Pratapgari said that ‘Muslim Fix puncture’ is the use of a kind of language troll on social media. “This kind of comment does not leave the Prime Minister. Also, you have brought the youth of the country at this point. There are no jobs. The only option is to fix the puncture or sell to the fritters. Muslims do not just make a puncture. I can make a list that Muslims have done. But this is not the time. Shahnawaz Hussain and Zafar Islam are saying that you are saying that you are said to be a good thing for your Muslims. Want to do, but you do not have a Muslim MP who present it in the Lok Sabha.
Congress spokesperson Supriya Shrinet questioned why the Prime Minister did not pay tribute to the architect of the Constitution, BR Ambedkar at a Parliament ceremony to mark his birth anniversary. Responding to the Prime Minister’s question, why the Congress did not name the chief of the Muslim party, he asked why the BJP does not have a Dalit Chief Minister.
The Prime Minister yesterday accused the Congress of appeasement politics and said that this approach has also harmed Muslims. He said, “Congress has made only some fanatics happy. The rest of the society remained illiterate and poor. The biggest proof of this wrong attitude is in Waqf law.”
The Waqf Amendment Bill approved Parliament earlier this month and is now an Act. The Congress and other opposition parties had opposed the law, alleging that the government is monitoring the Waqf properties and targeting the minority community. The BJP says that the bill brought a very necessary amendment for the easy management of Waqf properties.
