Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s assertion that the Indian Union Muslim League is a completely secular party drew a sharp response from the BJP on Friday as its leaders alleged that the Kerala party is guided by the same mindset which was behind Mohammad Ali Jinnah’s All India Muslim League.
“These are the same people who had stayed back after partition. They formed the Muslim League here after partition and became MPs. They advocated for Sharia law, wanted separate seats reserved for Muslims. They are the same people who are part of the same Muslim League. It is Rahul Gandhi and the Congress that sees Hindu terrorism but feels Muslim League is secular,”
Union minister Anurag Thakur said.
Thakur said it is imperative that the former Congress president speaks favourably of organisations like the Muslim Brotherhood, an extremist organisation banned in several countries, and the Muslim League as he has to contest against from Wayanad, a Muslim-majority seat, after losing from Amethi.
On a tour to the US, Gandhi told reporters in Washington that the Muslim League is a completely secular party and there is nothing non-secular about it. He was answering a question about his party’ alliance with the regional party.
BJP national spokesperson and MP Sudhanshu Trivedi claimed a link between the regional party and Jinnah’s outfit, which spearheaded the partition stir among Muslims. He noted that Jinnah’s party had swept the pre-Independence provincial polls in Madras presidency, of which today’s Kerala was then a part.
