JOIN USAhead of foray plans in UP assembly polls, Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (MIM) MP Assaduddin Owaisi used the uproar in Parliament over conversions in UP to target Mulayam Singh Yadav and his party government for not acting sternly against Hindutva forces organising “homecoming” of Muslims.
Participating in the Lok Sabha debate on reported conversion of about 200 poor Muslims into Hindus as part of “homecoming” programme organised by right-wing outfits, Owaisi attacked Samajwadi Party (SP) chief Mulayam for not taking action against the BJP affiliates despite being in power.
Accusing the SP of being in cahoots with the BJP, the MIM MP said that their government was indulging in “noora-kushti (shadow boxing)” to pretend they were acting against the culprits of forced proselytisation.
The government has registered an FIR to probe reported forced conversion of ragpicker Muslim families on the pretext of offering them ration cards and Aadhaar cards. This lead to SP leaders shouting back at Owaisi.
Perhaps, what prompted the MIM to target the veteran OBC leader Yadav, who has been coming to power with Muslims support, is that Mulayam did not debunk the BJP, its ideological mentor RSS and right-wing outfit Bajrang Dal’s design to convert Muslims into Hindus.
The MIM leader, sensing an opportunity to become an alternative to capitalise minorities’ disillusionment with the SP owing to series of communal riots, has decided to adopt a village under Modi government’s Sansad Adarsh Gram Yojana in Azamgarh.