Pseudo-secular forces behind beef politics: JUEH

It is the responsibility of Muslims to ensure Hindu religious sentiments are not hurt, says Maula Suhaib Qasmi

By Our Staff Reporter

GUWAHATI, Oct 25: The Jamaat Ulama-e-Hind (JUEH) said today it is the responsibility of Muslims to ensure that religious sentiments of Hindus associated with cows is not hurt.

"Some elements are always making attempts to instigate Muslims to get embroiled in beef politics for petty political gains. Everyone knows how Lalu Prasad Yadav tried to exploit beef politics for electoral gains. It is the duty of Muslims not to hurt anyone's religious sentiments," JUEH tiol president Maula Suhaib Qasmi said here, amid the raging controversy over cow slaughter in the country.

JUEH works closely with RSS-affiliate Muslim Rashtriya Manch.

Qasmi said a majority of the Muslims in the country abide by the law prohibiting cow slaughter which is banned in 25 states.

Qasmi also alleged that the Congress and "pseudo secular" parties are behind the commul tension over beef ban to consolidate Muslim votes. "They (Congress) always indulge in such propaganda when not in power. They did it during the Jata Dal government and the Vajpayee government," he said.

Buoyed by the success of its experiment in Jammu and Kashmir, Qasmi said that he is confident that JUEH would be able to win the trust of Muslims in Assam in favour of BJP.

The JUEH has also called a public meeting for Muslims in December-end in Guwahati in which the organization expects a turnout of around 50,000 people.

"Our objective is to allay the misunderstandings among Muslims regarding RSS' ideology. In Jammu and Kashmir, we had to face challenges from pro-Pakistan elements and the Hurriyat. Despite this, we were successful in attracting many Muslims towards the BJP. In Assam, luckily we are not facing such challenges. We are hopeful that Muslims of Assam too will understand that RSS and BJP are not against their interests," Qasmi said.

He said his organization intends to clear the air of hatred created by commul forces and expose them.

"The religious gurus - whether the maulvis and jubs or the Hindu pundits - are always moderate. But some elements are trying to project them as radicals," he said.

Predicting a Congress defeat in the upcoming assembly elections in the State, Qasmi said the ruling party in the State has ignored the aspirations of the minorities and has only used them as vote-banks. "The Congress does not want the minority people to join Indian tiolism, because then the party will lose its support," he claimed.

He also charged the AIUDF with doing politics in the me of religion. "What have the AIUDF MPs and MLAs done for the minority people? I wonder how they will go to the people to seek votes in the next election," Qasmi said.

Stating that "no one wants infiltration of immigrants", the JUEH, however, backed Central government's move to regularize minority refugees from Pakistan and Bangladesh, saying, "India, as a responsible tion, has allowed refuges from Muslim countries like Afghanistan and Iran to stay in the country. So why not refugees from Bangladesh and Pakistan?"