In a first-of-its-kind conference of Pasmanda Muslims the state BJP’s minority wing organised in Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh ministers and other party leaders on Sunday assured the community members that both they and their faith were safe in the saffron party's rule. At the conference, prominent Pasmanda Muslims were honoured with saffron scarves and pagdis (headgears) amid chanting of slogans of “Bharat mata ki jai” and “Vande Mataram”. Addressing the gathering as chief guest, Deputy Chief Minister Brajesh Pathak said the Congress and the Samajwadi Party (SP) only misled Muslims just for sake of votes. “After Independence, you were treated like tejpatta (bay leaf) which is thrown away from biryani after cooking. You too were discarded by these parties after taking your votes.” he alleged. Saying that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has worked to give the community its rights, he added, “You should have trust in Prime Minister Narendra Modi and strengthen his hands in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. The SP and Congress will make you to fear the BJP. The SP used you like a 'tejpatta'. But we will not get misled anymore.” Pathak assured that he will always be available at their service. BJP minority morcha national general secretary Sabir Ali pointed out that PM Modi in his speech in the recent national executive meet of the party in Hyderabad gave 12 minutes to discuss the community that was ignored by other parties. “I can proudly say that the BJP believes in distribution, not division. It was for the same reason that the PM asked party workers to reach out to deprived and downtrodden sections of all communities and work for them. Only the BJP people can do that,” Ali said. Ali said that since the Narendra Modi-led government speaks for the country's entire population, including the Pasamandas, it is their responsibility to move forward with a party and people concerned about prosperity of the community and its future generations. “No other PM said ever said at an international forum that Muslims of his nation cannot be traitors. Only Narendra Modi said that. He gave a call to Indian Muslims to have Quran in one hand and computer in other,” he said. Other political parties that ruled the country for over 70 years created a sense of fear about the BJP among Muslims, he claimed. “But after 14 years of BJP governments, including six years of the Atal Bihari Vajpayee-led dispensation, we can tell these parties that we (Pasmanda Muslims) don’t need to be afraid of under Mr Modi’s leadership,” Ali said. BJP leader and newly elected Rajya Sabha member from Jammu and Kashmir Ghulam Ali Khatana, who was main speaker at the event, spoke about Modi’s “vision” for upliftment and prosperity of minorities. “Other political parties in their 70-year rule used Muslims, backwards and Dalits as a vote bank. From this stage, I want to say that Muslims, Dalits and backwards in the country have belief in the PM,” Khatana said. Praising the Modi government for abrogation of Article 370 in J&K, Khatana said that it was India's first PM Jawaharlal Nehru who included that section in the Constitution to benefit a few families of the erstwhile state. The Modi government made provision of political reservations in block development councils, district development councils and panchayats in J&K and OBC Muslims will also be given reservation there soon, he added. “Islam and Muslims have no threat from anyone. Muslims should move forward with their elder brother (Modi) who is also leading the country,” he said. The BJP minority wing’s state president Kunwar Basit Ali appealed to the gathering to support the BJP candidates in the upcoming urban local body elections. The party's legislative council state secretary member Subhash Yaduvansh asked Pasmanda Muslims to support Modi in the 2024 elections. On the sidelines of the event, former UP Urdu Academy chairman Haji Azam Qureshi said the BJP should become softer towards Muslims and not create new disputes such as the one involving the Gyanvapi mosque in Varanasi. “A soft and positive approach can change opinion of Muslims towards the BJP,” he said. Tabarkha Gujjar of Amethi said, “There should be more dialogue between BJP and the community and the government should create atmosphere of our safety.”
