Lucknow, Jan 15 (IANS) Union Minority Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju, on Thursday, dismissed as propaganda the claims that minorities are ill-treated in India, asserting that no citizen has ever been forced to leave the country due to oppression.

Speaking at an interaction with members of the minority community at the Christ Church College in Lucknow, Union Minister Rijiju said, “You must have heard remarks that excesses are being committed against Muslims, Sikhs or Christians. Such claims are propaganda and shall continue at all times.”

“Our party, BJP, has often been targeted and wrongly accused of being discriminatory towards minorities. This is incorrect,” he added.

He said that when Prime Minister Narendra Modi gave the slogan “Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas”, it was not for publicity but a reflection of our work culture that involves everyone and delivers welfare for all, without discrimination.

“Ever since our government has been formed, is there anyone who has been denied benefits of government welfare schemes due to discrimination over religion?” Union Minister Rijiju asked.

Describing India as the safest country for citizens, whether from majority or minority community, the Union Minister said, “I recently told an Indonesian Minister that you never know that in the next Census report, India may emerge as a country with the largest Muslim population in the world.”

“Muslim population in India is massive and they enjoy total freedom. All Indian citizens are treated equally,” he added.

Union Minister Rijiju said India is the most populous country with 140 crore people but other countries like the US, with 33 crore people, think that they are very big.

“They think that there is nothing beyond the US in this world. But when they are told about our 140 crore population, they are left wondering how we run the most populous nation,” he added.

The beauty of this great nation is that it has existed for thousands of years and will continue to thrive for thousands of years, he said.

The Union Minister said the Narendra Modi-led Central government is committed to the welfare of all castes and minorities, including the Parsis, whose population has been shrunk to 52,000 and is still reducing.

“You must have heard the name of Tatas who come from the Parsi community. They have made a lot of contributions to the country. We have started a scheme called ‘Jio Parsi’ for helping the community increase its population,” he added.

The Jiyo Parsi scheme is a unique Central Sector Scheme for arresting the population decline of Parsi Community.

The scheme was launched in 2013-14.

The objective of the scheme is to reverse the declining trend of Parsi population by adopting a scientific protocol and structured interventions, stabilise their population, and to increase the population of Parsis in India.

–IANS

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