AGENCY
Patna: BJP and RSS have raked up issues like Uniform Civil Code and triple talaq to “polarise the country” by making Hindus and Muslims fight each other, senior Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad said here on Monday.
The leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha asked the BJP-led Central government to let Muslims decide on the matter of ‘talaq’.
“The BJP and RSS want to make Hindus and Muslims fight each other. Issues like triple talaq and Uniform Civil Code are being discussed and debated on television channels. This (TV debates) is not being down due to any sympathy (for Muslim women), rather done to polarise the country through a well-planned strategy,” he said addressing a conference of Scheduled Caste and Minorities.
“Their (BJP-RSS) strategy is to make Muslims fight Muslims on triple talaq while Hindus fight Muslims on Uniform Civil Code. Let the matter of talaq be decided by the minorities themselves,” he said.
Azad, who inaugurated the conference organised by Bihar Congress, claimed that BJP and RSS were raising these matters to divert attention from issues plaguing common people like price rise, unemployment, bringing back black money etc.
He dubbed the BJP government’s regime worse than the British Raj, saying the latter never inspected the fridge or kitchen of an individual to check meat and or see what one ate in a university. “Senior leaders of BJP always say that there is a Jungle Raj in Bihar. But today the ‘law of jungle’ is prevailing in the country under NDA regime,” he said.
People had been safe during the Congress regimes in states and at the Centre, but today they, specially dalits and minorities, are unsafe and insecure, he added.
“15.50 lakh children have not gone to schools since then. Buses are not plying. Tourism received a setback as no one goes there. But these things are not being discussed on TV or newspapers,” Azad said.
Meanwhile, Bihar Congress chief Ashok Choudhary asked Dalits and minorities to come together to give strength to their voice as they share common problems.
He also read out party vice-president Rahul Gandhi’s message appealing to Dalits and minorities to fight against RSS and BJP unitedly.
Mohammad Wali Rahmani, Amir-e-Shariat of social organisation Imarat-e-Shariah Bihar, Odisha and Jharkhand, alleged that BJP has adopted the British policy of “divide and rule” by raking up such issues.
Congress needs to fight the BJP and RSS if it seeks to return to power, he said.
Congress Legislature Party leader Sadanand Singh moved a 16-point demand in the form of a resolution, which talked about increasing the reservation cap of Scheduled Castes from 16 per cent to 22 per cent, as the number of castes in the category has increased over the years.
