'Secularism' abused and used to deceive minorities: Owaisi

All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) president and  MP Asaduddin Owaisi has planely said that successive governments of various political parties over the past several years have "abused" the term secularism and "used" it as an "opportunistic tool to deceive" the minorities. He charged that the Congress, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and others are responsible of keeping the Muslim community backward.

Speaking at the India Today Conclave 2021 (South) on Friday, he said that one creates fear about secularism, that is the BJP, and the other creates false hopes (the Congress). And the responsibility to save secularism is always put on Muslims.  "Muslims have realised that these so-called secular parties won't allow any independent Muslim leadership to emerge and their issued be addressed. That is why we want to contest elections on our own and raise our issues," Owaisi said. "I don't have individual-centric dreams or objectives. My main objective is that the Indian Constitution allows me to fight elections. And, by fighting elections everywhere in India, the main objective is to create confidence and strengthen India's democracy," he said.

Meanwhile, speaking also in the session, BJP Rajya Sabha MP and spokesperson Syed Zafar Islam slammed Owiasi and said politicians like him want the Muslim community to remain in the dark."He wants to keep the Muslim community in the dark. Whereas I have joined a party which wants to bring them out of the darkness," he said. When asked about the Opposition's allegations that by resorting to majoritarianism, the BJP is compromising with the concept of secularism, Zafar Islam said the word secularism has been abused by political parties to serve their interests."The word secularism has been used several times for opportunistic ends. It has been used and abused by several political parties," he said. "BJP's slogan is very clear 'Sabka saath, sabka vikas and sabka vishwas'. If you do an analysis of the past 40 years, you will find the Muslim community has largely been used as a tool to win elections. We (BJP) do not differentiate people on the basis of their religion," he said.