Saharanpur (Uttar Pradesh), Oct 14 (IANS) Well-known Shia cleric and senior member of All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB), Maulana Kalbe Jawad, has said that Muslims should tie up only with parties that can give enough seats to members of the community.

"When Muslims have enough seats to be able to make or break the government, only then will they get the desired respect," the cleric told reporters in Deoband.

Jawad said, "In 1947, Jinnah made the biggest mistake of partitioning the country. If there was no Partition, there would have been 60 crore Muslims in India and no political party would have dared to point fingers at them."

Jawad said political parties had failed to do anything for the Muslim community.

"Congress, SP, BSP have done nothing for Muslims even though Congress ruled the country for 55 years. BJP also wants to keep only the majority community happy," he said.

The cleric was visiting the family of a 40-year-old farmer who died mysteriously during a police raid in Thitki village.

Saharanpur police had picked up Mohd Zeeshan following allegations of cow slaughter on September 5 and later claimed that he had accidentally shot himself in the leg while trying to flee and 'died out of fear'. His wife had alleged in a police complaint that Zishan was beaten to death by police.

The deputy inspector general of police (DIG) had then ordered a probe into the matter.