BSP GENERAL secretary and party’s Muslim face, Naseemuddin Siddiqui, on Sunday alleged that Prime Minister Narendra Modi and SP chief Mulayam Singh Yadav are trying to interfere in the religious matters of Muslims’. He claimed that BSP president Mayawati is the only leader who has spoken in favour of Muslims on the issue of triple talaq. He was addressing Bhaichara Sammelan in Lucknow West Assembly seat, aimed at wooing Muslim voters. While BSP has fielded Arman Khan from the constituency, it is currently held by SP’s Rehan Naeem. Watch What Else Is Making News Siddiqui said Modi and BJP are interfering in the religious matters of Muslims by bringing up triple talaq. “If anyone has spoken against them, then it is behen Mayawati, who had said that it is the personal religious matter of Muslims and it should be left to them to take a call,” he told the gathering of mainly Muslims. The Centre has opposed the tradition of instant triple talaq through an affidavit in the Supreme Court and BJP leaders, including the PM and BJP president Amit Shah, have voiced their opposition to the practice. “Mulayam Singhji kehte hain ki purdah galat ravayat hai (Mulayam says that purdah is a wrong tradition). This is written here in this newspaper,” he said while showing the crowd a copy of a Urdu daily. “It is our personal matter, why do you have to interfere? Our religious matters are being interfered with. One is talking about triple talaq, the other is talking about purdah,” he added. Claiming that BSP is being defamed by rumours that it will form a coalition with BJP after 2017 UP elections, Siddiqui said: “But I, Naseemuddin Siddiqui, want to clarify today that there is no question of BSP forming a government with the BJP or having to do anything with that party. The BSP had never contested elections with BJP and did not compromise ideologically even when it formed governments with its support.” Bringing up allegations levelled by SP state president Shivpal Yadav against cousin Ram Gopal Yadav in October, the BSP leader said: “Shivpal had said that Mulayam had abandoned the mahagathbandhan in Bihar after conniving with BJP because Ram Gopal’s son and daughter-in-law were facing a CBI inquiry. This is not what I am saying, this has been said by Shivpal.” Siddiqui reiterated more than 400 communal riots have taken place during the SP regime while no such incident had occurred during the BSP rule. “The SP government has not fulfilled any promise it had made to Muslims in the party’s election manifesto. Forget about providing reservation to Muslims in proportion to their population, Mulayam Singh is not even talking about it. Muslim youths implicated in terror cases were not freed or provided compensation. On the contrary, Khalid Mujahid (accused in a terror case) was killed,” he alleged. He claimed the project for Lucknow Metro was initiated by the previous BSP government. “It was better planned than the one implemented by the Akhilesh government. In our plan, the Metro was to be built underground and an elevated road was to be built above the road so that traffic could pass smoothly. Where the elevated road was to be constructed, they have built the tracks,” he added.
