Not the minorities!

Who's afraid of the BJP?

Who's afraid of the BJP? Not the minorities! For a party that has been dubbed as anti-Muslim and anti-minority, it was an unusual show of strength on Sunday, August 3, with member after member reiterating their support and expressing their allegiance in strong terms with the saffron party.

City president Mahaboob Khan set the ball rolling calling on the party's minority wing to ensure that the minority voting share would go up "from 30% in the previous elections to 80% in the next elections".
Mahaboob Khan stated that the party had helped several muslims to get loans from KMDC and said the economically backward muslims should make full use of the government's proactive gestures to the minority community.

Strongly taking on the communal charge against the BJP, Mehaboob Khan said the so-called secular parties like the Communists and the Congress gave a communal colour to the singing of Vande Mataram in schools. "What is Vande Mataram? It is Maa Tujhe Salaam. The land where we live is our Mother, and it comes before everything else - our religion, customs, etc. How can you say saluting your mother is wrong?" he said.

BJP state minority morcha president Derrick M.B. Fullinfaw and nominated MLA pointed out that the BJP was the only party to allocate Rs 143 crores for the development of the minorities. With this single decision, the chief minister Yedyyurappa had effectively answered all his critics, he said, cautioning the people not to get swayed by the politically motivated charges of communalism that was routinely thrown at his party. "Recent election results across the country show that the BJP is the fastest growing party and the minorities and the scheduled castes and scheduled tribes are joining it in large numbers," he said. "The decline of the Congress party and other so-called secular parties are largely because of a disillusionment on the part of the minorities who have been successively betrayed by them."

Mr Fullinshaw also informed the members that the party president Sadananda Gowda had assured to allot seats to minority candidates in the forthcoming corporation elections.

City general secretary Kennady Shanthakumar said the minority morcha had made rapid strides in recent times and it showed that the common man was not willing to take whatever the politicians say at their face value. The minorities were realizing that the party was not communal and was sincere in its approach. Morcha leaders also complimented Shanthakumar for getting scholarships to more than 200 poor students, by taking up the issue at the highest levels.

Executive Committee member Bahadoor Hussain described the BJP as "a party that does what it says and says what it does", and called upon the Muslims to treat it as your friend.

Muzambil Ahmed Basha, treasurer, Sirajuddin, Chand Pasha and Aadil also spoke on how the morcha was helping poor people from the minority community to get loans.

The minority morcha leaders said in the recent RT Nagar incident, they had immediately brought the situation to control by talking to all the community leaders.

Earlier, the party felicitated several members of the minority community from various assembly constituencies who had joined the BJP. Sri Kishore Joseph, Publisher, TWB was also felicitated by Sri Fullinshaw. In his thanksgiving speech, Kishore Joseph said the media had a responsibility to empower the people. "We should not take whatever the political parties say at their face value. The people are the best judges to say who is communal and who is not, and it is not for the so-called secular parties to claim that they are always secular whatever they say and do and for eternity."