TIRUCHY: Chief Minister MK Stalin, on Wednesday, said the minorities, especially Muslims, are facing a threat in the country's current political scenario, and Tamil Nadu is the safest place for them as the DMK government stands for them as a protective wall.
The Chief Minister was addressing the Mahalla Jammat Conference organised by the IUML in Kumbakonam. "Religious places are not just worshipping places, but also a place of unity, development and a linking tool for education. The DMK and Muslims have always been like brothers," Stalin said.
"It is the DMK government that declared Milad un-Nabi a holiday, but the AIADMK government withdrew the order. Late Chief Minister M Karunanidhi declared it a holiday again after coming to power. Karunanidhi also included the Urdu-speaking Muslims as a Backward Community and gave 3.5% reservation in government jobs," Stalin recounted.
The Chief Minister also noted that his father always saw himself as a Muslim and said, "The Dravidian model government under his leadership has been following the same. Thus, the present DMK government had initiated steps for the Hajj House." The Hajj House is an administrative subsidy of Rs 80 lakh per year for the State Hajj Committee.
"For the past four years, a subsidy of Rs 24.56 crore has been disbursed for Hajj pilgrimage through which 11,364 persons were benefited, and a loan of Rs 207 crore has been disbursed to 31,625 beneficiaries. While a fund of Rs 10 crore has been disbursed for the maintenance of mosques by Tamil Nadu Minority Economic Development Corporation," the Chief Minister said.
Charging that the BJP-led Union Government had stopped the scholarship for the minority students, Stalin said, the DMK government has been distributing Rs 1,000 to 1.11 lakh Muslim students studying from class 1 to 8, and a pension of Rs 3,000 has been distributed to as many as 1,537 Ulamas registered in the Tamil Nadu Waqf Board.
He also noted that the Muslims were under threat due to the BJP-led Centre and assured the minority people that the DMK government would always protect them. The CM then appealed to them to start campaigning for DMK, and it would guarantee their victory.
Stalin claimed that the state has been moving peacefully, and this disturbs the communal forces, hence they align with agencies like CBI, ED and IT and threaten the DMK. "Edappadi K Palaniswami has also been aligning with them, thus he has deceived the Muslims. This proves that Palaniswami supported CAA, triple talaq and amendment in the Waqf Act," the CM charged, adding that the DMK alone can strongly oppose the anti-minority BJP.