'The tragedy with Indian Muslims is that they do politics from the heart, not from the head.'
"Many Muslims have personally told me that they used to think Yogi Adityanath was their enemy, but after he has come to power he has taken care of their welfare, which they cannot believe. You will not be able to point out a single instance of Muslim discrimination in the second tenure of Chief Minister Yogi's tenure. He is a saint and like an angel," Jamal Siddiqui, national president of the BJP Minority Morcha, tells Syed Firdaus Ashraf/Rediff.com in the concluding segment of the interview.
Opposition parties allege that the BJP provokes riots to be in power. They cite the Delhi riots of 2020 which occured before municipal elections in the city.
If you notice riots stopped ever since Prime Minister Modi came to power.
Gujarat always faced riots when the Congress ruled the state. During the BJP rule, 2002 was the last riot after which the state has not witnessed a single riot.
Prime Minister Modi has controlled the bad elements of society and India is a riot-free nation now.
I asked you about the Delhi riots of 2020.
It was not a riot, but it was a fight.
Riots are what happened in Bhagalpur, Moradabad (both in the early 1980s), Mumbai in 1992-1993.
There is a difference between riots and a fight.
Why do 90 percent-plus Muslims not vote for the BJP if you are saying all is good with the party?
This is all in the past.
If you see surveys now, you will find out that Muslims do vote for the BJP in big numbers.
In the last UP assembly election and local municipality election, more than 15 percent Muslims voted for BJP candidates.
Earlier, our party used to say that we are doing work for the Muslim communitym but never had an example to showcase our work.
Now, in Uttar Pradesh, we have examples where we showcase how the BJP government is working for the Muslim community.
Those who have got benefits from the government are now regretting not voting for the BJP.
Many Muslims have personally told me that they used to think (Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister) Yogi Adityanath was their enemy, but after he has come to power he has taken care of their welfare, which they cannot believe.
They got gas cylinders, health cards and freedom from goondagardi.
The BJP does not work for votes, but for every community, thus ensuring if the minority community prospers, the nation prospers.
But there have been reports and photographs of bulldozers destroying Muslim homes in UP.
Bulldozers do not operate looking at the religion of the person. It operates against the homes of those who have occupied government land illegally.
It is not the BJP which plays bulldozer politics, it is the Congress, BSP (Bahujan Samaj Party) and SP (Samajwadi Party) that do bulldozer politics, stating that Muslims are being targeted.
They do not have any good thing to showcase their work or a development vision, so they give statements against bulldozers.
These Opposition parties only do Hindu-Muslim politics to win.
It is Yogi Adityanath who said before the UP elections that it was all about 80:20, indicating 80 percent Hindus versus 20 percent Muslims.
You have understood it wrong.
He meant 80 percent of voters are with the BJP and 20 percent voters are with the Opposition parties.
You will not be able to point out a single instance of Muslim discrimination in the second tenure of Chief Minister Yogi's tenure. He is a saint and like an angel. He works for everyone.
What does the Muslim community tell you when you praise Yogi Adityanath?
I tell them whatever Maulana Azad said about the Congress to Muslims, had they listened to him, then Muslims would not have been a backward community today after 75 years of Independence.
(Then BJP leader) Sikandar Bakht tried to play the role of Maulana Azad in the 1990s, but no one listened to him.
They never listened to Bakhtsaab and hence remained backward.
The tragedy with Indian Muslims is that they do politics from the heart, not from the head. They do that in friendships and business too.
They do not realise politics cannot be done by the heart, but with brains.
They should go with those who give them development rather than get emotional with the Congress party.
Maybe they still follow Allama Iqbal's poem, Jo Aqal Ka Ghulam Ho Woh Dil Na Kar Qabool. Don't follow those who think with brains because they will be the first ones to let you down you.
No, you are wrong. Politics is always done with brains and not with the heart.
Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar taught this to our Dalit brothers, they listened to him and made progress.
Muslims got trapped because they followed their hearts, got emotional and voted for the Congress.
And the Congress gave nothing to Muslims in 75 years.
The same is with the Samajwadi Party who used Muslims as a vote bank. In the name of employment they put Muslims in illegal activities by giving them a way to make easy money which landed them in jail.
Does the Muslim community believe you when you say these things to them?
Earlier I used to find it difficult to convince them, but not now.
Muslims have experienced good governance from Yogi Adityanath in UP, Shivraj Singh Chouhan in Madhya Pradesh or for that matter Devendra Fadnavis in Maharashtra.
Muslims have understood the Bharatiya Janata Party is the only party of Bharat of which they are part of. The other parties are only promoting their own family.
If things are so good for Muslims in the BJP, why does the party not give tickets to Muslims to contest elections?
It is always a winnable candidate that gets a ticket. It is the party's decision to decide who gets a ticket and who does not because the candidate once selected for the seat needs to win for the party.
Moreover, you tell me who did not get a ticket from the BJP?
Muslims! They don't get tickets from the BJP to contest elections. Isn't that a fact?
It is not the responsibility of the BJP alone to give tickets to Muslims. At the same time it is the responsibility of the Muslim community to come and join the BJP.
I am saying this with full responsibility as a national president of the BJP Minority Morcha that I got no application from any Muslim who wants to contest elections on a BJP ticket.
Why have you not got a BJP ticket to contest?
The tragedy of our politics is that getting a ticket is not everything. This is the culture of the Congress, SP and BSP, but not that of the BJP.
Their culture is to get a ticket, become a minister and do corruption.
This is not the BJP worker's culture to get ticket to contest elections.
Politics is also about the country. It must go in the right direction and for that you need to motivate party workers and the people of the country.
This is what the BJP does and therefore I am a part of it. I am not in the BJP for getting a ticket to contest elections.
But there is no representation of the Muslim community in the BJP.
The BJP has thousands of Muslim workers who are doing work quietly without any expectations. In Uttar Pradesh, 36 Muslims got tickets to contest local elections.
The BJP does not discriminate against the religion of any Indian. In Tripura, there was a by-election recently and a Muslim candidate (Taffajal Hossain) got the ticket.
What about Uttar Pradesh where there is no Muslim BJP MLA even though Muslims constitute 19 percent of the population?
They are 19 percent of the population, and if you see the benefits the Muslim community got in terms of percentage wise share, it is 32 percent under the Yogi government.
Be it any scheme of the central or state government, Muslims benefit the most.
The Congress gives tickets to Muslims for sure, but does not give development fruits to the Muslim community.
In a democracy, the government is not to give proper representation for different communities, but to give proper benefits to the marginalised community, which the BJP is doing.
And in the future you will see more Muslims getting tickets from the BJP.
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