Kejriwal meets Muslim leaders to clear 'misconceptions'

Against the backdrop of the allegations that Anna Hazare has links with the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, Arvind Kejriwal, a key Team Anna member on Monday met representatives of Muslim organisations in Mumbai to clear the 'misconceptions'.

Kejriwal held a two-hour discussion with the representatives of All India Ulema Council and Federation of Muslim Non-Governmental Organisations at Crawford Market, after the Islam Gymkhana cancelled the meeting on its premises.

Talking to reporters after the meeting, Kejriwal alleged that the government and corrupt people were indulging in a false propaganda that Team Anna had a communal agenda.

"We are against communalism and in Monday's meeting, we have cleared the misconceptions among the Muslims," he said.

Kejriwal blamed the media for the misunderstanding, saying Hazare had praised the development in Gujarat and Bihar.

"False propaganda was unleashed by a section of the media that Muslims were against us," he alleged. "Anna had said riots were wrong, but the media did not publish these comments. When Anna went to Ahmedabad for a public hearing, he had said that there were several corruption cases in Gujarat," Kejriwal said.

When asked about Hazare's health, Kejriwal said, he would reach Mumbai tonight. "He is fine now. But, if he is not able to sit on fast, we will do so. His presence is important.

However, Anna will take a final call on it," he said. Maulana Mehmood Dariyabadi of the Ulema Council said, "We are against corruption and in April we had supported Anna's agitation at Azad Maidan. Kejriwal has cleared our doubts."

On Sunday, Hazare had dismissed senior Congress leader Digvijay Singh's statement that he had links with the late RSS leader Nanaji Deshmukh, saying such allegations were  being levelled against him by "supporters of corruption" as they had no other issue to raise.