Minorities enjoying absolute freedom in India due to Hindu majority: Union minister Kiren Rijiju
New Delhi, Jul 19 (PTI): Union minister Kiren Rijiju has said that minorities are enjoying absolute freedom and protection in India because of the Hindu majority, and asserted that the country is safest for minorities.
In an interview with PTI Videos, the Minority Affairs Minister said he has not come across a single case where a member of the minority community is willing to migrate out of India because of being deprived of anything in the country.
He accused "the Left ecosystem backed by the Congress party" of running a relentless campaign that minorities are being "tortured, butchered, lynched and killed, and are not safe in India".
Rijiju said such narratives were not helping the country.
Asked about his predecessor Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi's statement when he was the minister that India is heaven for minorities, Rijiju said India is a country where "people are law abiding, we are secular, we have a Constitution", and so, whether in majority or minority, everybody is the same.
Whether one belongs to a minority or a majority community, everybody is equal before the law, he asserted.
"Now, having said that I can clearly make this statement that whatever the majority community gets, the minority communities also get that but there are certain things which minorities get but the majority community do not get," Rijiju told PTI on Friday at the news agency's headquarters here.
"If you see the history in brief, there were some problems in Tibet due to the Chinese occupation and the Tibetans came to India. There were some democratic movements and problems in Myanmar and the democratic activists came to India. There were some problems in Sri Lanka, the Lankan Tamils came to India. There was persecution of minorities in Bangladesh, they all came to India. From Pakistan, Afghanistan (many came to India)," the senior BJP leader said.
"Ultimately, they all desire to take shelter in India because they have the confidence in the Constitution of India and the people of India. That is why they come here," he said.
He said barring isolated incidents and the riots when the Congress was in power, generally, "minorities are safest in India".
Despite that, for the last 11 years, there has been a constant campaign that the minorities are not safe in India, Rijiju said and wondered how that is helping India.
What is India as a country gaining from this, he asked.
"I belong to a minority community. I must openly make this admission that the majority Hindus which are around 78 to 79 per cent as per the old old census. If you see the new census later on when it comes out, this percentage may be reduced but I don't know right now. But because of the Hindu majority, all the minorities are enjoying the absolute freedom and protection in this country," Rijiju said.
"Imagine if I was in Pakistan. Imagine if we were made part of Bangladesh during the partition. We would have been refugees today. Today, every tribal community, every minority community is safe and secure in his or her own homeland because the majority Hindu community is secular by character and tolerant by nature," the minister asserted.
That is why India is a preferred place for every minority community, he said and added that this must be appreciated.
"If you don't appreciate the reality, then you are doing the greatest disservice to the country," he said.
On whether the Muslims also feel as safe in India, Rijiju said, "I saw some of the Hindus are saying that they feel threatened by some Muslim majority pockets within the country. Maybe there are some individual incidents, maybe some Hindus are saying that there is a Muslim majority (in the area) so we feel threatened. But I feel that nobody should feel threatened and if anybody is threatening the other community then the state government must take action."
He asserted that everybody is equal and everybody is safe in India.
Anybody who is saying that they are unsafe in India are doing the greatest disservice to India as a nation, the minister said.
He pointed out that under the ministry of minority affairs, all the schemes of the government of India are applicable in every part of the country for everyone.
"The ministry of minority affairs implements policies and skills only for minority communities. The minority communities are not deprived of any possibility of getting the benefits from anywhere. It's the same for everyone," he said.
The minority affairs ministry provides enough support system as gap funding to all the six notified minority communities in India, he said.
Earlier this month, Rijiju was involved in a war of words with AIMIM president Asaduddin Owaisi, who had slammed the BJP leader over his statement that India is the only country where the minorities get more benefits and protection than the majority community.
The Hyderabad MP, in a post on X, had said, "You are a Minister of the Indian Republic, not a monarch. @KirenRijiju You hold a constitutional post, not a throne. Minority rights are fundamental rights, not charity."
"India's minorities are not even second-class citizens anymore. We are hostages," Owaisi had alleged.
Replying to the AIMIM president, Rijiju in a post on X had said, "Ok... How come Minorities from our neighbouring countries prefer to come to India & our Minorities don't migrate? Prime Minister @narendramodi ji's welfare schemes are for all. The schemes of the Ministry of Minority Affairs provide additional benefits to the Minorities."
Hitting back, Owaisi had said, "If we don't migrate it means we are happy.
Actually, we are not in the habit of fleeing: we did not run away from the British, we did not run away during partition, and we did not run away because of Jammu, Nellie, Gujarat, Moradabad, Delhi etc massacres. Our history is proof that we neither collaborate with our oppressors nor do we hide from them."
"We know how to fight for our democratic rights and we will inshallah. Stop comparing our great nation with failed states like Pakistan, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Nepal & Sri Lanka. Jai Hind, Jai Samvidhan! Thank you for your attention in this matter!" Owaisi had said.
Rijiju had earlier also said at an event that there is no country in the world that gives as much facilities to minorities as India does and asserted that all citizens are treated equally here.
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Ladakh a living land of dharma for centuries: Amit Shah
Leh/Jammu (PTI): Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Friday described the return of sacred relics of Lord Buddha to Ladakh after 75 years as a "historic reunion" and said that the Union Territory has remained a "living land of dharma", preserving and nurturing Buddhist knowledge for centuries.
Stressing the relevance of Buddha's teachings in modern times, Shah said the message of peace, compassion and the middle path was even more important today than it was 2,500 years ago.
"Ladakh has been a living land of dharma for centuries. When the Dalai Lama comes here, he says this land is not merely a geographical land but a living laboratory of Buddhist culture and compassion," Shah said, speaking after the inauguration of the sacred holy relics exposition of Tathagata Buddha and the 2569th Buddha Purnima celebrations at Jivetsal in Leh during his two-day visit to Ladakh.
Calling Ladakh a land of compassion, he said this land has preserved and nurtured knowledge. "Whenever Buddhism faced crises, this land worked to protect the teachings of Buddha. And when peace returned, it helped to expand and carry forward that preserved wisdom," he added.
"Unless one internalises knowledge and makes it a part of oneself, liberation is not possible. Knowledge is incomplete without spiritual practice, while spiritual practice without knowledge is blind. Therefore, the union of spiritual practice and knowledge is the right path. Even after all this, if there is no moral discipline, one cannot lead a truly wise life. The basis of a life of wisdom is moral discipline," he said.
Shah said it was through Ladakh and adjoining routes that the teachings of Tathagata Buddha, which originated in India, spread to China and several other countries.
"The message that emerged from the land of Ladakh has become a guiding force for many people around the world to take their lives forward. The presence of these sacred relics in Ladakh reminds us that India's civilisation has, for thousands of years, given the message of peace and coexistence," he said.
He said that in a diverse region like Ladakh and Kargil, this message becomes even more relevant. "This heritage still tells us today that amidst conflict and unrest, only the path of peace and compassion can provide solutions."
He said the return of the relics on Buddha Purnima had enhanced the significance of the festival for the people of Ladakh.
"These sacred relics have come to Ladakh after 75 years. It is as if Buddha himself is present here today," Shah said, adding that followers of Buddhism and people of other faiths in Ladakh and Kargil would draw spiritual energy from the relics.
Highlighting Ladakh's role in the spread of Buddhism, Shah said Kashmir was once an ancient centre of Buddhist studies, Mahayana philosophy and Buddhist art, from where Ladakh first came into close contact with Buddhism.
He said Emperor Ashoka's envoys laid the foundation of Buddhist influence in Ladakh through Kashmir and Gandhara, while Mahayana Buddhism expanded in the region during the Kushan period between the first and third centuries CE.
The Silk Route linking Kashmir, Leh, Yarkand, Khotan and Tibet became a channel not only for trade but also for ideas, monks, manuscripts and artistic traditions, Shah said.
He added that later, Tibetan influence between the seventh and tenth centuries further enriched Ladakh through Mahayana and Vajrayana traditions.
Stressing the relevance of Buddha's teachings in modern times, Shah said the message of peace, compassion and the middle path was even more important today than it was 2,500 years ago.
"Amid conflict and unrest, only the path of peace and compassion can provide solutions," he said.
Shah also appealed to the Ladakh administration to ensure complete arrangements so that followers of all faiths, especially Buddhists, could visit and pay obeisance to the relics.
#WATCH लेह, लद्दाख: केंद्रीय गृह मंत्री अमित शाह ने कहा, "जब दलाई लामा यहां आते हैं तो वे कहते हैं कि यह भूमि केवल भौगोलिक भूमि नहीं है। यह भूमि बौद्ध संस्कृति और करुणा की जीवंत प्रयोगशाला है। इस भूमि पर ज्ञान का संरक्षण हुआ है... भारत की सभ्यता हजारों वर्षों से शांति का संदेश… https://t.co/2nwG0w2CE6 pic.twitter.com/W13itRBqeX
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