NEW DELHI: A day after Prime Minister Narendra Modi rejected remarks against minorities; he reached out to the Muslims as he met 30 leaders community leaders and asserted that he does not believe in communal politics.
Modi met Muslim leaders on the auspicious day of Shab-e-Barat and expressed his government’s commitment to ensure that development reaches to all sections of the society.
A delegation of 30 leaders led by Imam Umer Ahmed Ilyasi . minister of state for minorities affairs Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi and national security advisor Ajit Doval were also present.
Prime Minister said, “he neither believes in politics which seeks to divide people on communal lines, nor will he ever speak communal language....the politics of majority and minority had caused a lot of damage to the country.”
Modi added that employment and development are the solution to all problems, and he is focused on delivering them.
Prime Minister also spoke of the initiatives in skill development taken by the Union Government, and the work done by him as Chief Minister of Gujarat in fields such as education of the girl child, and revival of the kite industry. “The Prime Minister appreciated the gesture of the leaders, to take time out to meet him, even on the busy festive occasion of Shab-e-Barat,” the official statement said.
Sources said community leaders raised the issue of various government schemes not reaching the poor. Naqvi assured them their government has been successful to dislodge power brokers from the various government schemes, so the benefits will start flowing.
The delegation members appreciated the Prime Minister's leadership over the last one year, and said they wanted to forge a partnership for progress and development with the Prime Minister. They said that the Muslim community had rejected the divisive politics of vote-banks, and was interested in development.
“The leaders congratulated the Prime Minister for his vision of Muslim youth with a Quran in one hand and a computer in the other. They also congratulated him for the country's success in the adoption of the International Day of Yoga, by the United Nations,” the official statement added.
The delegation also included Dr. Khwaja Iftekhar Ahmed, President of Quami Majlis-e-Shoora, Qari Mohd. Mian Mazhari, Chairman of the Islamic Council of India, Moulana Mohd. Haroon
Imam, Khateeb Jama Masjid, Race Course, Moulana Bilal Ahmed, Member, Shoora Tableeg-e-Jamaat Hazrat Nizamuddin Auliya, Moulana Mohd. Yunus, Imam of Dargaah Sharif Ajmer and Moulana Usman Gani Qadri, President of Amin–e–Shariat, Gujarat. Dr. Parvez Ahmed, son of late Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed, former President of India, and Dr. Firoz Ahmed Bakht, grand nephew of Moulana Abul Kalam Azad, were also part of the delegation.
Dr. Aslam Parvez Ahmed, Principal of Zakir Hussain College, Prof. Qazi Obaid Ur Rehman of Jamia Milia Islamia, were part of the delegation too.
Meanwhile, Minority Affairs Minister Najma Heptulla assured the religious minorities of upholding their constitutional rights and working for the development of all without any "discrimination or hatred".
"The motto of this government is development for all without any discrimination or hatred," she said while addressing a function oragnised by the muslim wing of the RSS, Muslim Rashtriya Manch.
"All of us who and the council of Ministers who have taken oath under the Constitution are committed to uphold the rights of the minorities," she added.