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| Sense of security is Muslims' right: Digvijay | | |
SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT
NEW DELHI, SEPT. 13: Indian Muslims have once again, after the recent blasts in Maharashtra's Malegaon, demonstrated their will and determination to assert themselves. And the Congress party's general secretary, Digvijay Singh, cannot be faulted for his observation that the sense of security is Muslims' right.
In a media interview, Digvijay Singh sought to play down the Malegaon incident. When he was asked to explain the incident when angry residents of Malegaon refused to accept compensation cheques and complained to Sonia Gandhi that there was no infrastructure in the town, Digvijay Singh was quoted as saying: "It is not true that the Maharashtra government has neglected Malegaon. It has provided electricity at concessional rates to the power-loom owners. Malegaon is a town of weavers and of power-looms. The power looms became economically unviable. The government is helping out".
The Congress general secretary added: "It is quite clear now that those behind the Friday blasts in Malegaon are not the same people who were behind the Mumbai suburban train blasts in July. In the last few months, some of the Hindu fundamentalist groups have been nabbed for making crude explosives in Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra, especially in Nanded".
In his reply to a question, Digvijay Singh said: "We must remember that there are 140 million Muslims in India, and it is not fair to blame all of them for the acts of a few fundamentalists. Congress has always fought the fundamentalists among Muslims and Hindus. It had fought the Hindu fundamentalists like the Hindu Mahasabha and the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) on the one hand, and Muslim fundamentalists like the Muslim League on the other before Independence".
According to Digvijay Singh, the Congress continues to fight both kinds of fundamentalism even today. It is the duty of the majority community (Hindus) to make the Muslims feel a sense of belonging as well as a sense of security. "The sense of security is a constitutional right of the Muslims", the Congress leader reiterated.
Digvijay Singh said in reply to another question: "It is unfortunate that the BJP and its sympathisers in the media have been portraying the whole of the Muslim community in a negative light".
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