CHENNAI: Appreciating Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s speech on the occasion of the centenary celebrations of the Aligarh Muslim University (AMU), Prince of Arcot, Nawab Mohammed Abdul Ali said the message was an emphatic reaffirmation of the inclusiveness and equality enshrined in the Constitution.
In a official letter to the Prime Minister, the Prince wrote, “Although your December 22 speech was addressed to AMU, the entire Muslim community of India falls within its all-embracing ambit. Your wholehearted attestation that AMU graduates across the world are representatives of India’s culture and values equally applies to all Muslims of our country.”
The idea of ‘Mini-India’ which epitomises the principle of unity in diversity, is not just the defining feature of AMU, but of every Muslim society in any corner of the country. “You reminded all Indians that there are issues beyond politics and power, and that the well-being of society is far more important for the progress of our nation than politics. Politics can wait, you said, but development cannot. So you wanted the country not to waste its precious time on differences, and instead, focus on making India self-sufficient,” the Prince wrote.He also lauded the government’s goal of taking India’s progress to every citizen irrespective of caste, religion, gender, language or location.
The Prince of Arcot also highlighted the belief of the Prime Minister that Muslims are equal citizens of India and that the progress of the nation is not possible without their full participation. “As a Muslim citizen of India, I thank you for reposing faith in my community at a time when it finds itself besieged by Islamophobia across the globe,” the Prince said.