'No reason for Muslims to be insecure in India since their population growing'

Citing a new report on Indias demographic transition Information and Broadcasting Minister Anurag Thakur wondered how Muslims can feel insecure in the country especially when their population has reportedly increased by 45 per cent and they have been equal recipients of government welfare programmesA working paper on population trends released recently by the Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister said the population of majority Hindus declined by 782 per cent between 1950 and 2015 while that of Muslims increased by 4315 per cent suggesting that there is a conducive environment to foster diversity It however did not give absolute numbersIn an interview to PTI late Friday senior BJP leader Thakur said the minorities are clearly thriving and need not worry He also rubbished the oppositions charge that the BJP would change the Constitution On the contrary the BJP will ensure that reservation for SCs STs and OBCs is not diluted or altered by anyoneThe fourtime MP from Hamirpur in Himachal Pradesh who is defending his seat against Congress Satpal Raizada accused the party of seeking to take away the reservation meant for SCsSTsOBCs and provide it to MuslimsHe also alleged that the Congress is aiming to grab the wealth of people and provide the same to Muslims to further its appeasement and vote bank politics The Congress has denied these claims also made by other BJP leaders as lies and distortion of their manifesto Prime Minister Narendra Modi has also said that he will never allow reservation based on religion by taking away quotas meant for SCs STs and OBCs Thakur saidAsked if there was a need for policy change on population control or a legislation on the issue in the wake of changing demography Thakur said the new government will discuss the issue and then take a call after discussion as population figures have just come out in public domainHe said the figures show that the population of Muslims in India has increased by almost 4547 per cent over 65 years What do these figures indicate On one side the population of Hindus declined by 78 per cent and on the other hand the population of Muslims increased by 4547 per cent One has to ponder over the reasons behind thisIn Pakistan Afghanistan and Bangladesh the population of Hindus was 23 per cent in 1947 now they are only 2 per cent left And still some people in India say Muslims are insecure Their population has increased by 45 per cent still they say they are insecure he saidHow are they insecure We never said vote for us out of compulsions we have not indulged in any vote bank politics We freed Muslim women of the scourge of triple talaq we have also provided Muslims women with pukka houses toilets and free cooking gas cylinders besides free medical treatment even if they have eight children They have also benefited from our schemes the minister saidOn the Constitution he told PTI There will be no change of Constitution He said the BJP has been in power for the last 10 years while wielding absolute majority in Parliament Still it has not made any Constitutional amendment Thakur saidIt is the Congress which has amended the Constitution all the time Besides the Congress insulted Babasaheb Ambedkar who gave us this Constitution and even worked to send him out of politics The Congress also did not give him honour he allegedInstead he said it was Narendra Modi who made paanch teerth at Nagpur Mhow Mumbai Delhi and England in honour of Babasaheb Ambedkar and began marking Constitution Day on November 26 besides declaring a holiday on Ambedkar Jayanti on April 14I want to tell this country and the youth that it was Indira Gandhi who murdered democracy and if anyone has tried to crush the Constitution it is Arvind Kejriwal Thakur saidEven the creators of the Constitution would have never thought that a chief minister and deputy chief minister would be in jail for corruption and still are reluctant to resign from their posts Thakur added Thakur also reeled out government statistics to support his view that the BJP government has consistently worked during the last 10 years for the poor especially the backward class and castesOut of four crore houses made under the PM Awas Yojna by PM Modi as many as 58 per cent houses were made for SCSTs he said He also cited the Rs 6000 annual dole given to farmers of which a majority of the beneficiaries are SCST and OBC category peopleThakur noted that four crore houses 12 crore toilets 13 crore water connections and 10 crore free cooking gas cylinders were provided to people as well as free medical treatment to 60 crore people and free ration to 80 crore peopleThese people opposition are spreading fear misconceptions and rumours that SCST reservation will go but the truth is that wherever the Congress governments came in Karnataka Andhra Pradesh and Telangana they took away SCST quota and gave to Muslims and are creating fear among SCSTs Thakur saidThe senior BJP MP said Congress leader Rahul Gandhi wants a survey that will lead to wealth redistribution This is appeasement politics which the Congress started not us he said We have done Sabka Vikas and did not do HinduMuslim and we will carry on doing work like this in future But when these people say such things for votes that they will give to Muslims then we raise questions that they try to insult Hindus and talk of crushing Sanatan and talk of giving resources to Muslims Thakur saidThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever