PM Modi Meets Muslim Leaders, Allays Fears
NEW DELHI: Barely 24-hours after he rejected remarks against minorities, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday reached out to Muslims as he met 30 community leaders and asserted that he does not believe in communal politics.
Modi met Muslim leaders on the auspicious occasion of Shab-e-Barat and expressed his government’s commitment to ensure that development reaches all sections of the society.
The delegation was led by Imam Umer Ahmed Ilyasi, chief Imam of All India Imam Organisation. Minister of State for Minorities Affairs Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi and National Security Adviser Ajit Doval were also present on the occasion.
The 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 has caused a lot of damage to the country,”he added. Sources said the community leaders raised the issue of various government schemes not reaching the poor. Naqvi assured them that their government has been successful in dislodging the powerbrokers from the various government schemes. Hence, the benefits would percolate down to all levels.
The delegation appreciated the Prime Minister’s leadership during the last one year and said they wanted to forge a partnership for progress and development with him. They said that Muslim community had rejected vote-bank politics and was interested in development.
Meanwhile, Minority Affairs Minister Najma Heptulla assured the religious minorities that the BJP-NDA Government was committed to upholding their rights and work for the development of all.
“The motto of this government is development for all without any discrimination or hatred,” she said, while addressing a function organised by the Muslim wing of the RSS, Muslim Rashtriya Manch.