Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav asked if Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s’s recent visit to Indonesia and Malaysia during Ramzan, an attempt towards ‘international appeasement’ of the minority community.
The former Chief Minister claimed that the people of not only Uttar Pradesh, but of the entire country, were unhappy with the BJP as other than making promises it ‘did nothing else’. Citing a proverb, Yadav said, “With empty stomach, people have now understood that the BJP does not mean business.”
Asking the BJP to restrain its leaders from making ‘absurd and provocative’ statements, Akhilesh said, “The BJP should learn to face defeats or else they will be not be able to come to terms with the outcome of the 2019 lok Sabha poll in which the opposition is all set to stage a comeback.”
Slamming the BJP for accusing his party of practicing minority appeasement, the SP chief said, “Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath says he does not celebrate Eid as he is a Hindu. The BJP charges us with practising Muslim appeasement. Modi just visited Indonesia and Malaysia during Ramzan. Is it an attempt towards ‘international appeasement’ of MuslimsIJ”
Yogi had reportedly said that he was a Hindu and hence did not celebrate Eid, drawing sharp criticisim from the opposition.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, for the first time, was on an official visit to Indonesia – the world’s most populous Muslim-majority nation – last month. He has visited Singapore twice and Malaysia once in 2015.
During his stay, Modi also visited Indonesia’s grand Istiqlal Mosque - the largest in South East Asia, accompnaied by President Joko Widodo. Indonesia is not only the world’s most populous Muslim country, followed by India, but the third largest democracy. Hindus comprise two per cent of Indonesia’s population and form close to a 90 per cent majority on the island of Bali.