New Delhi, Aug 18 (IANS): Jamiat Ulama-e-Hind President Maulana Arshad Madani said that how can the people who "sacrificed the most for the country's independence" be anti-national.

"The freedom movement of India was started by the Ulama and the Muslims; and the first flag of rebellion against the British in India was raised by the Ulama," he said during an event.

"The people who first gave the slogan of freedom, today the same people are called traitors. Muslims are being depicted so all over the country today. How can someone whose elders gave the freedom be a traitor," he asserted.

"Our elders from Hindu and Muslim communities went ahead on the path of unity and liberated the country from the slavery of the British, but unfortunately partition also took place. This partition has become a cause of destruction and ruin, not just for a particular community, but for both Hindus and Muslims," Madani added.

Speaking on the issue of China, he said, "If the partition would have not happened and these three countries (India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh) would have been together, then today this would have not been the situation that China was infiltrating inside India and the government is silent on it…"