Hyderabad, July 7 (IANS) Lashing out at Minister for Minority Affairs Kiren Rejiju for his remark that India is the only country where the minorities get more benefits and protections than the majority community, AIMIM President Asaduddin Owaisi said on Monday that India’s minorities “are not even second-class citizens” but “hostages”.

“India’s minorities are not even second-class citizens anymore. We are hostages,” the Hyderabad MP posted on X in a strong counter to the Union Minister’s statement.

Reminding Rijiju that he is a minister and not a monarch and that he is holding a constitutional post and not a throne, Owaisi stated that minority rights are fundamental rights, not charity.

“Is it a “benefit” to be called Pakistani, Bangladeshi, jihadi, or Rohingya every single day? Is it “protection” to be lynched? Is it protection that Indian citizens were kidnapped and pushed into Bangladesh? Is it a privilege to watch our homes, masjids, and mazaars being bulldozed illegally? To be made socially, politically, and economically invisible? Is it an “honour” to be the target of hate speeches from no less than the Prime Minister of India? India’s minorities are not even second-class citizens anymore. We are hostages,” he wrote.

“If you want to talk about “favours”, answer this: can Muslims be members of Hindu Endowment Boards? No. But your Waqf Amendment Act forces non-Muslims onto Waqf Boards — and allows them to form a majority. You discontinued the Maulana Azad National Fellowship. You defunded the pre-matric scholarship. You limited the post-matric and merit-cum-means scholarships. All because they benefited Muslim students,” Owaisi claimed.

“Muslims are now the only group whose numbers have fallen in higher education. Their presence in the informal economy has gone up. They have been among the worst hit by your economic policies. This is your own govt’s data. Indian Muslims are the only group whose children are now worse off than their parents or grandparents. Intergenerational mobility has reversed. Muslim-concentrated areas are the ones most starved of public infrastructure and basic services.”

“We are not asking to be compared with other minorities of other countries. We are not asking for more than what the majority community gets. We are demanding what the Constitution promises: social, economic, and political justice,” the AIMIM chief added.

–IANS

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