BENGALURU: In a determined bid to project himself as the champion of Muslims at a time when the Union Government has toyed with the idea of abolishing triple talaq, former Union minister, K. Rehman Khan, on Saturday asked all Muslims to unite under a single banner instead of fighting separately.
Presiding over a consultative meeting of all sections of Muslim community on one platform and to address issues concerning the community here, Mr Khan said: “I am eager to groom second and third rung leaders within our community as we need youngsters to take the message across the state," advocating the need for everyone to unite under a single umbrella to face challenges plaguing the community for over seven decades.
“Be it economic or social problems, we got to fight ourselves. Therefore, we need to unite. Let us keep our internal differences aside, be it Shia and Sunni or Barelvi and Deobandi for time being and fight unitedly," he added.
According to him, the community must plan well before organising massive rally of Muslims, more than three to four lakhs, in Bengaluru in the next one year to press for implementing long pending demands.
Laying out detailed plans to organize members of the community at various districts, Mr Khan said the community leaders and clergies must come together to make this Muslim convention a grand success. Throughout his speech, Mr Khan however, repeatedly stressed that he was “fully content with his achievements in political life” and does not aspire for any posts.
At the day-long meet, his repeated claims, triggered widespread whispers among various leaders from community that he was organising these meetings with an eye on fifth straight term in Rajay Sabha and also a Assembly ticket for his son from one of the Assembly segments in the city in 2018 elections. He rued that neither the community nor its leaders took up issues related to them.
