News & Pics: Rons Bantwal
Daijiworld Media Network – Mumbai (RD)
 
Mumbai, Feb 21: ‘Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) will not provide any support to Malegaon blast culprits since it does not want to scare the Muslims, instead it desires to win their confidence, said BJP former national president and MP Rajnath Singh. 

Rajnath was speaking at a seminar on minority issues held at Hotel Leela Kempinski, here on Sunday February 20.  The seminar was organized under the aegis of Etv Urdu and Hindi channels. 
 
Rajnath also assured that if a Bill on Awqaf properties will ever be presented in the Parliament, his party will give its complete support.
 
The Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan inaugurated the programme. The union minister for minority affairs Salman Khursheed was the chief guest on the occasion.
 
Many eminent personalities from politics and literature across the country including Samajwadi Party president and MLA Abu Asim Azmi, BJP MLA Pasha, Pune-based Azam Campus director P A Inamdar, Bhayyuji Maharaj, Maharshtra Minority Commission’s chairman Naseem Siddiq, movie director Akbar Khan, actress turned politician Naghma, MP Maulana Mahmood Madani, MP Parvez Hashmi, Shahnawaz Hussain, Maharastra minority affairs minister Arif Nasim Khan and NCP leader Nawab Malik among others were present for the event.
 
Rajnath Singh further added that his party came into power only for 6 years in the 63 years of independent India. It is the party in power, which had to first address the issues of the minority as BJP cannot be blamed if the minorities are backward today. He said that there is a need to uplift the intellectualism in Muslim community, by focusing on education and employment sectors. He also added that CBI is investigating cases of Malegaon, Hyderabad, Ajmer blasts and waiting for the results by trusting in the judiciary.

Rajnath denied that he or L K Advani ever went to see Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur in prison.
 
CM Prithviraj Chavan assured that the government will definitely take the action against the culprits of Malegaon blast. He assured that the justice will be delivered to every individual of the state, an innocent will not pay for someone else’s crime and a criminal will not be let free to create massacre.

He also said that for the development of minorities, a better financial scheme is a must. The government will definitely put this issue in front of the union government. The government also intends to establish Haj Houses at Nagpur and Aurangabad, he added.
 
Muslim Community is fighting and demanding for the Awqaf properties’ since a long time, but either the Awqaf plots are under some goons or with the big business houses, but there is a sigh of relief for the community that both the national parties, Congress and BJP assured that the Awqaf property belongs to the Muslim community and should be given back to them. Whereas union minority affairs minister Salman Khursheed assured that his government is taking appropriate steps towards the development of Awqaf property.
 
Samajwadi Party MLA from Mumbai Abu Asim Azmi said that the Muslims in  Maharashtra are politically in a mess. They don’t know whom to approach or support as at one side they have Congress and NCP government and at another side Shiv Sena and BJP. Muslims are scared of saffron policy of BJP and Shiv Sena and hence their vote goes to the Cong-NCP camp.

Azmi also said that Muslims should avoid giving negative vote. Azmi demanded that government should uplift the ban from SIMI and should release all the innocent boys detained for 2006 Malegaon blast. The union and state government should apologize to innocent boys and their families for ruining their lives. The government should also compensate them. The government should also arrange employment for them as they have been jailed for years and have lost their careers.

Azmi further added that the government should take stern action against the officials, who implicated innocent boys and deliberately tried to misdirect the investigations.
 
Noted Sant Bhayyuji Maharaj asked the people to come forward for brotherhood and national interest. He also said that the need of the hour is to educate our current and future generations.

Film maker and director Akbar Khan said that Muslims at first should stop calling themselves as minority, then a situation will not arise that will defame Indian Muslim community.  He also said that there is a need to form a Muslim Economic forum. Where as Dr Manzoor Alam from Delhi, said that the country is being run by the poorest of the nation. He asked the government why it is not implementing on Sachchar and Mishra Committee’s reports. He also said that the Muslim community needs to come together on the issues of development.
 
MP Sayyed Shahnawaz Hussain BJP from Bhagalpur said that whatever has happened in the past at the time of partition was not influenced by his party. He said that the party is concentrating on current generation and its prevailing issues.

He further added that if the government brings a resolution based on Sachchar Committee report for the development of the minorities in the parliament, his party will fully support it.
 
Manikrao Thackrey, chief Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee said that the country can not develop without the development of minorities, hence the need to concentrate on minority development on priority basis. 
 
Many other dignitaries addressed the elite political and literary gathering, which was telecasted to more than 20 crore audiences of ETV Network.

The event also proved an efficient platform for the different political parties to come on the same platform and share their views on minority issues.  The event was live telecasted on ETV Urdu and Hindi channels.