Won't Run Away, Owaisi Tells Rijiju

AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi slammed Union Minister Kiren Rijiju for his comments that India is the only country where minorities get more benefits and protections than the majority community.

Rijiju claimed that minority community members don't migrate to neighbouring nations, indirectly hinting that Indian Muslims don't leave for Pakistan, because the BJP provides additional benefits to minorities. "Prime Minister Narendra Modiji's welfare schemes are for all. The schemes of the Ministry of Minority Affairs provide additional benefits to the minorities," he replied to Owaisi on X.

Soon Owaisi hit back saying that "if we don't migrate it means we are happy." Muslims choose to stay in India not because of the 'comforts' but because they are courageous enough to continue to fight for their rights. "We are not in the habit of fleeing: we did not run away from the British, we did not run away during partition, and we did not run away because of Jammu, Nellie, Gujarat, Moradabad, Delhi, etc. massacres. We know how to fight for our democratic rights and we will. Stop comparing our great nation with failed states like Pakistan, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Nepal & Sri Lanka"

Rijiju made his original remark during an interview with the Indian Express and then posted an excerpt from that discussion on X. He said that in the last 11 years, Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government "had championed the principle of 'sabka saath, sabka vikas...' Pointing out to the minorities, Rijiju claimed that the BJP government had "ensured that minority communities are active and equal participants in India's growth story." He underscored that "the main point we have to understand is that minority communities are receiving more funds and support from the government than the majority community, hinting at the Hindus."

The Union minister's remarks were fiercely contested by Owaisi who felt that Rijiju's remarks suggested minority communities' rights were viewed as "charity" rather than fundamental. Owaisi reminded: "You are a Minister of the Indian Republic, not a monarch. You hold a constitutional post, not a throne." Despite supporting the BJP after the Pahalgam terror attack and military conflict with Pakistan, the AIMIM chief asked some tough questions. "India's minorities are not even second-class citizens anymore. Is it a 'benefit' to be called Pakistani, Bangladeshi, jihadi, or Rohingya every single day? I it 'protection to be lynched? Is it protection that Indians were pushed into Bangladesh?"

Referring to the bulldozing of buildings owned by Muslims despite Supreme Court, Owaisi asked: "Is it a privilege to watch our homes, masjids, and mazaars being bulldozed illegally? To be made socially, politically, and economically invisible? Is it an 'honour' to be the target of hate speeches from no less than the Prime Minister of India?"

Owaisi also criticized the government for halting the Maulana Azad National Fellowship and reduced support for pre-matric, post-matric, and merit-cum-means scholarships. "Indian Muslims are the only group whose kids are now poorer than their parents or grandparents. Inter-generational mobility has turned around," he said, stressing that India's minorities are not begging for charity, but social, economic, and political justice.