Muslim Parties not a threat to secularism: Asaduddin Owaisi

Commenting on the alarm in some quarters over the growing Majlis popularity in the country and the recent success in Maharashtra assembly polls, he said: “Muslim political parties are not a threat to the secularism but they will strengthen the secular ethos of the nation. These parties can strive to increase representation of Muslims in Parliament and Assemblies in proportion to their population.”

Asaduddin Owaisi was addressing a large gathering of Indian expatriates at Ritz Carlton, Riyadh organized by Bazme Ittehad Riyadh, which felicitated him on the recent electoral success of the party in Maharashtra. Referring to the hostile reaction of many political parties to the success of AIMIM in two assembly seats in Maharashtra, Owaisi said it only shows that the so-called secular parties feel threatened by our success. Calling for constant struggle by the community to safeguard its rights and interests, he said, “it is impossible for us to forget the Gujarat carnage and we will continue our struggle to get justice for the



victims.”

Owaisi underlined the need for Indian Muslims to take bold measures to end their economic backwardness. He said Muslims must excel in higher education as their graph is declining sharply in all fields. The MIM president lamented the continuing lack of adequate Muslim representation in various areas of national activity. Giving an example of how Muslim areas were continuously neglected, he said a city like Malegaon with a large population does not have a single branch of any nationalized bank. He said Muslims should evolve methodical and effective strategy to achieve their aims and objectives. On this occasion Owaisi announced that the AIMIM will contest in Uttar Pradesh assembly polls in 2016 and will give tough fight to the ruling Samajwadi party.