Chennai: Muslim parties and political observers in the state welcomed with caution and scepticism, PM Narendra Modi’s statement that Indian Muslims will live and die for India. IUML general secretary K.M. Kader Mohideen said that Modi’s statement healed the injured sentiments of Muslims, while TMMK president J.S. Rifayee and political observer Prof A. Marx linked it to the PM’s forthcoming US visit.
In his first reaction to al Qaeda chief Ayman al-Zawahiri’s announcement that his group will start a special operation in India, Modi said, “If anyone thinks Indian Muslims will dance to their tune, they are delusional. Indian Muslims will live for India, they will die for India they will not want anything bad for India.” “Every letter of the PM’s statement is acceptable to all Muslims in the country,” Prof Mohideen told DC. He said that his statement assuaged Muslim sentiments which were wounded by some of the statements made by BJP leaders in the recent past.
He said that his party IUML at its national executive had adopted a resolution condemning ISIS and al Qaeda for their violent activities and warned anyone against joining these extremist organisations. TMMK president Rifayee expressed hope that Modi’s statement would change the opinion of those who raise doubts about the patriotism of Indian Muslims. However, he said that if Mr Modi and his party thought that Muslims would forgot their past statements and the Gujarat riots, they were wrong. “We don’t need the PM’s certificate to prove our patriotism. We always fought and sacrificed our lives for the country,” he noted.
Mr Modi is the first PM to neither host an Iftar party nor extend Id greetings, Prof Marx said, adding that for the first time in Independent India, there was not even a single Muslim Cabinet minister. He recalled that Modi had taken potshots at secular forces after gifting a copy of the Bhagvad Gita to the Japanese Emperor during his visit to Japan. He said that all these create genuine doubts over his intentions.
