Senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader and Union Civil Aviation Minister Shahnawaz Hussain has said that Muslims in India need not prove their patriotism to anybody since they are as patriotic as any other Indian.
"In 1947, during partition, those Muslims who chose to stay in India considered it as their motherland. We won't take a certificate nor do we need it," Hussain told Karan Thapar on the Court Martial programme to be telecast on SABe TV.
Citing the examples of President A P J Abdul Kalam and himself as achieving prominent positions in India, Hussain said he was 'fully satisfied' with the BJP as the ruling party had given him 'enormous responsibility' at the young age of 34 years.
"I will never betray the party in times of crisis since it has displayed so much confidence in me," he said.
"The party has not applied double standards," he said explaining his absence from the BJP election in Gujarat. "Many star campaigners were not called for campaigning in Gujarat," he pointed out.
He said that the BJP has adopted a secular democratic line and that there is no anti-Muslim atmosphere (in the party).