Saudi Gazette

JEDDAH — There is a method in madness. By maintaining a stoic silence on the anti-Muslim sentiments expressed by fringe Hindutva elements, the government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi is trying to divert attention of the general public from many pressing problems a common man is facing, a senior Congress leader has said.

Talking exclusively to Saudi Gazette here recently, Anees Durrani, convener of the Congress’ media department and secretary of the party’s minority department, said the silence of the government top brass on the anti-Muslim hatred spread by some of the ruling party leaders and the RSS-affiliated Hindu chauvinist organizations should be taken with a pinch of salt. “The problem is that the Modi government has failed on all fronts during its four years in office. There is no sign of the promised jobs for the youth. Prices of essential things have doubled, trebled. Our borders are not secure, Kashmir continues to burn. There is no security and safety for the common man. And now elections are approaching and the party has realized that the Modi charisma has long faded. See what has happened in the Gujarat elections and the bypolls for the Lok Sabha (lower house of parliament) seats from Rajasthan — once the bastion of the party. That explains the reason why anti-Muslim hysteria is given a new pitch by the Hindutva goons,” Durrani who is also a former chairman of the Delhi Haj Committee, said.

Durrani is in the Kingdom on a private visit.

“The Modi government, his Bharatiya Janata Party (PPP) and its ideological mentor Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) have already wreaked much havoc on the pluralistic and hegemonious fabric of our great nation. They are all out to polarize different segments of society and, in fact, are following in the footsteps of the British Raj which thrived on disunity in the ranks of Hindus and Muslims,” Durrani said.

He added that the prudent people of India have already seen the Machiavellian tactics of the BJP and will uproot it in the coming elections. “See people have already spoken in the just concluded bypolls in Rajasthan. The same fate lies ahead of the BJP in other by-elections and in the general elections next year,” he said.

On the withdrawal of the Haj subsidy, Durrani said the government would do well to spend the subsidy money on the welfare of the minorities, especially Muslim women.

A rejuvenated Congress under Rahul Gandhi’s stewardship is the only alternative for the people to discard the BJP government. “It is corrupt. It is playing divisive card; it has to be defeated at all costs if India has to survive as a flourishing secular and democratic country,” Durrani said.

There are now indications that the Left and other secular parties join ranks under the Congress banner and offer a viable alternative to the already reviled and destructive BJP government under Modi, he said.