New Delhi: Maulana Arshad Madani, national president of Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind, has condemned the hate speeches at Haridwar and Chattisgarh and said this is all happening to divide Hindu-Muslim votes.
In an exclusive interview with ETV Bharat, Madani said, "The kind of polarisation Muslim League did (before and during partition) and fooled the entire Muslim community, these people (Centre) are walking on the same path and are fooling the Hindus in the name of religion."
Madani has appealed to the country's Muslims that they should not react to these issues and should not come out on roads. Calling the Supreme Court the tallest institution in the country, Madani said Muslims or even any other religious community should knock on the doors of SC rather than protest on streets because the Supreme Court is the biggest judicial body and no one is above them.
When asked about the kind of polarisation that is happening in UP ahead of assembly elections in 2022, Maulana Madani replied: "This is all happening because political leaders are allowing such kind of atmosphere to continue in our country."
He stressed that an educated man would never fall into such a trap which emboldens the idea of the Hindu-Muslim divide.
Talking about the provocative and hate speeches delivered in Haridwar, Chattisgarh and calls for 'Ghar Vapsi', Maulana Madani said that there are around 20 crore Muslims in India and the world knows about it. No one can harm them or force them into converting, he added.
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Expressing anguish, Madani said that such speeches and actions are sending the wrong message to the youth which is dangerous for India's principles of secularism, communal harmony, and peace.
Ahead of the Assembly elections in UP, every political party is attempting to woo the electoral bank and different factions are coming together to put up a strong fight against the Yogi Adityanath's government.
Asked about his view on the stand of opposition and regional parties in UP in front of the Yogi-led BJP government, Maulana Madani replied: "I don't think that regional parties can walk alone by just wooing the votes of Hindus. In that context, they can never win a mandate. Regional parties like BSP or SP could never neglect the Muslim community and therefore they walk with the support of both the communities."
But on the other hand, the Centre has a completely opposite stand as they promote polarisation and seek the vote of Hindus only which creates more turbulence, he alleged. He also blamed the Centre for playing dubious politics by continuing the rhetoric of the Hindu-Mulsim divide.
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With the entry of All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM), led by Asaduddin Owaisi in UP Politics, a lot has been said about the possible outcomes of his entry. There are claims that his party would divide the votes. When asked about the same, Madani said, "I don't know how many seats AIMIM will win, but one thing is for sure that due to his party, secular parties would be harmed which would ultimately benefit the non-secular parties."
