New Delhi: Hailing Rahul Gandhi’s maiden speech as the Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha, prominent Muslim organisation Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind on Wednesday hoped that other opposition leaders will also raise their voice fearlessly in the Parliament against the violence, hatred and injustice.
Jamiat president Maulana Arshad Madani said his organisation supports what Gandhi said about violence and hatred because no religion in the world allows violence and hatred to be spread.
“Religion gives the message of humanity, tolerance, love and unity. Those who use it to spread hatred and violence cannot be true followers of their religion,” Madani said.
Sensible people should condemn and oppose such people at all levels, he added.
Asserting “no religion allows violence in any form”, Madani said, “What Rahul Gandhi has said has been the stand of the Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind and its leaders since day one, and they have always said that religion teaches love, tolerance and unity.”
He further said that mob lynching is a cruel form of violence.
“We have a set of laws in the form of Constitution, but it is a pity that the vicious cycle of mob lynching does not stop. We have been demanding a strict law to prevent this for a long time,” Madani said.
“The Supreme Court has also expressed its displeasure on this and has given strict instructions to the Centre to prevent it. But there has been no serious attempt to stop this violence carried out on the basis of religion,” he added.
Recently there were mob lynching incidents in Odisha and in Uttar Pradesh’s Aligarh, he said.
“We are happy that Rahul Gandhi, in his very first speech in the Parliament as the Leader of the Opposition, raised voice fearlessly against violence and hatred. We hope that following Rahul Gandhi, other opposition leaders will also raise their voice fearlessly in the Parliament against the violence, hatred and injustice,” he said.
Madani said the results of the general election have shown that people have rejected the politics of sectarianism and hatred.
The country’s minorities, Dalits and downtrodden sections voted for the INDIA alliance to save the Constitution and democracy, he said.
“So, now it is the moral duty of these parties, especially the Congress, to protect the Constitution and democracy as well as to come forward to fight for the rights of the voters,” he added.
Madani also said that during the recent parliamentary elections, the INDIA bloc leaders, especially Gandhi and Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav, stood firm on their ideology of secularism, and that is the reason why the voters with secular ideas trusted and supported them openly.
Gandhi launched a no-holds-barred attack on the BJP in the Lok Sabha on Monday, saying the leaders of the ruling party are not Hindus as they engage in “violence and hate” round the clock.
His remarks drew massive protests from the treasury benches, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi accusing the Congress leader of calling the entire Hindu community violent.
Gandhi, however, hit back at Modi, saying he was speaking about the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and neither the ruling party nor the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) nor Modi represents the entire Hindu society.
