Headlines
Shiv Sena leader for revoking Muslims' voting right
Mumbai/New Delhi, April 12
Voting rights of
Muslims should be revoked to stop vote bank politics, Shiv Sena leader
Sanjay Raut has said in an article in party's mouthpiece 'Saamna', and
accused AIMIM leaders Asaduddin and Akbaruddin Owaisi of polarising the
community.
His view drew sharp reactions from other parties.
Slamming the Shiv Sena, part of the Bharatiya Janata Party-led NDA, the
Congress said the ruling alliance had members who are out to create
conflict and the Aam Aadmi Party demanded arrest of Raut, suspension of
'Saamna' and de-recognition of Shiv Sena.
BJP leaders said they did not agree with Raut.
In
the article published in the latest issue, Raut, a Rajya Sabha member
said: "As long as Muslim votes are for sale, the community will remain
backward and its leaders will become rich."
In the article
written in Marathi, he said it was because of this Shiv Sena founder
Balasaheb Thackeray had said "voting rights for Muslims should be taken
away".
"Owaisi bhai is doing politics of Muslim votes and we
don't know if it will benefit him or the community, but it will harm the
country," Raut said, in a reference to the All India Majlis-E-Ittehadul
Muslimeen leader Akbaruddin Owaisi, in a rally in Mumbai earlier this
week, had dared Shiv Sena president Uddhav Thackeray to come to
Hyderabad.
Ruat sought to defend his comments later.
"This
vote bank politics has kept Muslims away from the mainstream. Go and
see in what condition Muslims live... what did their leaders do for the
community in 50 years. They made Pakistan... (Muhammad Ali) Jinnah did
vote bank politics, Jama Masjid Imam tried to polarise votes, Mulayam
Singh and Lalu Prasad did the same... and now we have this new leader
(Owaisi)," he said.
Congress spokesperson Abhishek Manu Singhvi told reporters that Saamna has no place in a democratic country like India.
"The
'Saamna' thinks it lives in some Talibanised land and not in a
democratic country like India. The 'Saamna' has no place in culture like
ours," he said, while his party colleague Anand Sharma asked why
communal comments keep pouring in despite Prime Minister Narendra Modi's
assurances.
"It is very clear you have elements who are out to
create conflict and division in the society and inflame passion. Despite
the prime minister's repeated assurances in parliament, senior leaders
and members of Sangh Parivar keep making such statements," Sharma told
reporters in the national capital.
The AAP demanded Raut's
"immediate arrest" and a criminal case against him and his party. "We
also demand that Samna's publication should be suspended and the
publishers should be prosecuted," a party statement said.
It also sought the poll panel de-recognize the Shiv Sena.
Stressing
all citizens had equal rights, BJP leader Siddharth Nath Singh said
Raut's suggestion was "out of question". Such remarks should not be
made, he said.
Shaina NC, a BJP leader in Maharashtra, said the party did not agree with Raut's views.