Taking a strong and unambiguous stand against its ally Shiv Sena’s demand for the scrapping of Muslims’ voting rights, the Modi Government on Monday disapproved such suggestions saying these “should not be discussed even hypothetically” and asserted that it was committed to the Constitution that grants equal voting rights to all citizens. The BJP has also distanced itself from Sena’s controversial call.
“The suggestion to deny voting rights to anybody, even for the sort of a discussion, is not acceptable at all. The Consti-tution does not accept it and people of India do not accept it. The right to vote is a Consti-tutional right of all citizens, irrespective of their social or economic status,” said Parliam-entary Affairs Minister and Senior BJP leader M Venkaiah Naidu in his statement.
On Sunday, Sena demanded withdrawal of voting rights of Muslims, saying the community has often been used for vote bank politics. Several political parties, including the Congress and the NCP, described the comments as “anti-Constitutional” and demanded action against Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut, who expressed his controversial views in an editorial in Sena mouthpiece Saamana.
Saamana had also likened the All India Majlis-e-Ittihadul-Muslimeen (MIM) and Owaisi brothers to “poisonous snakes,” who spew venom to “exploit” the minority community Naidu said minorities, including Muslims, are as much citizens of India as anybody else and “there can’t be any differentiation on any ground.” “The suggestion to deny such rights to anybody on any ground is not acceptable to our Government,” he said.
“Such suggestions or purported suggestions should not be discussed even hypothetically since the same is not acceptable and such suggestions are not allowed under the Constitution,” he added.
While political parties condemned Sena’s comments, Naidu added that it is unfortunate that some political parties are used to vote bank politics, which only harms the sections they pretend to be protecting.
The Minister said it was time that such politics was abandoned in the interest of the country. “People, institutions and organisations functioning in our Constitutional scheme of things should avoid making such controversial remarks as they will not help the cause of building an inclusive and resurgent India,” he said.
“That is significant as even the developed countries conferred voting rights to different sections of the people in a gradual manner. When asked about the controversy, Home Minister Rajnath Singh said, “Untouchability should come to an end.” He declined to elaborate on the issue.
BJP national secretary Shrikant Sharma said the country is run through the Constitution that provides equal rights to a citizen attaining the age of 18 years. “Owaisi brothers are known for doing communal politics, but that does not mean that voting rights of the entire community be taken away,” he said.
Hitting out at Raut for demanding revocation of voting rights of Muslims, AIMIM president Asaduddin Owaisi said the ruling BJP cannot dissociate itself from his statement as he is a leader of Sena, its ally, and asked it to take action against him. “He (Raut) has no right whatsoever to seek such a revocation of any Indian. He has no right whatsoever, leave aside Muslims,” Owaisi said, adding that no one has the right to usurp the power of voting from anyone.
NCP State president Sunil Tatkare condemned Raut’s remarks saying in the Independence struggle, Muslims had played an important role in the fight against the British empire. Senior Congress leader and former Minority Affairs Minister Mohammed Arif Naseem Khan demanded Raut be booked under Section 153 (A) of IPC for hate speech and the Sena MP be stripped of the membership of Rajya Sabha.
Slamming the Shiv Sena MP for his “most unconstitutional and unwarranted” view, the CPI said that it “vehemently condemns” the stand and called on the Maharashtra outfit to desist from espousing such ideas.