NEW DELHI: A day after Vice-President Hamid Ansari made a pitch for affirmative action for Muslims saying only then would Narendra Modi Government slogan ‘sabka saath sabka vikas’ be fulfilled, the VHP on Tuesday hit out at Ansari saying his statement did not behove the high office.
The Hindutva outfit said the demand seeks to “push Muslims into the dark alleys of dissatisfaction, the consequences of which will be dangerous. With due respect to the Vice-President’s Office, VHP condemns this rank communal statement. This is a political statement... which does not behove the office of the Vice-President,” VHP joint general secretary Surendra Jain said.
He said Indian Muslims enjoy more Constitutional rights than they do in several Muslim countries, claiming that they have been appeased by various means over the years. Jain asked Ansari to apologise for his “unfortunate” statement.
Earlier on Monday, while addressing the golden jubilee session of the All India Muslim Majlis-e- Mushawarat, Ansari said Muslims were an integral part of the freedom struggle against the British rule. They are dispersed all over the country, are not homogenous in linguistic and socio-economic terms and reflect in good measure the diversities that characterise the people of India .
“The official objective of sab ka sath sab ka vikas is commendable; a pre-requisite for this is affirmative action (where necessary) to ensure a common starting point and an ability in all to walk at the required pace,” the V-P had said, adding that this ability has to be developed through individual, social and governmental initiatives that fructify on the ground. Programmes have been formulated in abundance; the need of the hour is their implementation.
“They were made to carry, unfairly, the burden of political events and compromises that resulted in the partition. The process of recovery from that trauma has been gradual and uneven, and at times painful. They have hesitatingly sought to tend to their wounds, face the challenges and seek to develop response patterns. Success has been achieved in some measure; much more, however, needs to be done,” Ansari had said.