Mumbai: A meeting of Pasmanda or backward Muslims was held by All India Memon Conference at Anjuman-I-Islam near CST on Monday. The meeting was held after PM Narendra Modi at the recent conclave in Hyderabad had asked party workers to court Pasmanda Muslims. During the meeting, leaders said their members need “samman” (honour) more than “sneh”(affection).
At the Hyderabad meet, party workers were told by Modi to reach out to Pasmanda Muslims by taking out “sneh yatra”. Deccan Chronicle quoted Ali Anwar, ex-MP (Rajya Sabha) and founder-president, All India Pasmanda Muslim Mahaz as saying, “Sneh is a patronising word. We need samman and not sneh. We need equal representation in all walks of life. If Modiji is really interested in the upliftment of the Pasmanda or Muslim OBCs, he should crack the whip on his party members and others who target Muslims through mob lynchings.”
Anwar said the PM should first reply to several questions he has raised in the open letter he wrote to Modi after the latter’s “outreach to Pasmanda Muslims” remark hit the headlines. Alleging that BJP-RSS and MIM of Asaduddin Owaisi feed each other, the letter stated “If one is Manuvadi (guided by Manusmriti), the other is Iblisvadi (guided by Iblis or devils).”
Anwar also condemned the discrimination that the Muslim OBCs and other backwards face.
