BJP’s minority cell members in M.P. consider quitting en masse

165 members quit party in Khargone district over CAA, NRC

January 11, 2020 01:25 am | Updated 02:41 pm IST - Bhopal

Members of the BJP’s minority cell in Madhya Pradesh have invited party workers to a meeting on Saturday to decide whether they should quit en masse over the Citizenship (Amendment) Act and the proposed nationwide National Register of Citizens (NRC).

“Whenever there is something wrong, you should speak up,” said Javed Baig, the cell’s media in-charge. “The party has ignored us and the community has threatened boycott for supporting it. Where should we go now?”

Stating that the call was to members of all faiths, he said, “We had joined the party of leaders like Atal Bihari Vajpayee. But it has lost its way. We have spent our blood and sweat for it.”

Ahead of the party’s door-to-door awareness campaign - Jagrukta Mission - on the law, the party didn’t invite minority members to meetings, Mr. Baig alleged. “They have already considered us out. How do they expect people to listen if we are not involved?”

Moreover, he said, comments of BJP leaders against Muslims were hurting sentiments. “No one within the party is ready to talk to us.”

On the other hand, community leaders were asking them why they still stood by a party which didn’t respect them and their faith. “They have told us if we don’t stand by them now, they’ll boycott us from the community,” he said. “After all, they are the ones who take part in our functions and funerals.”

While on Thursday 165 members of the cell quit the party in Khargone district, cell’s State secretary Akram Khan resigned from the post on Monday.

0 / 0
Sign in to unlock member-only benefits!
  • Access 10 free stories every month
  • Save stories to read later
  • Access to comment on every story
  • Sign-up/manage your newsletter subscriptions with a single click
  • Get notified by email for early access to discounts & offers on our products
Sign in

Comments

Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.

We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of The Hindu and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.