Muslim parties plan to consolidate votes against BJP

“Muslims are living under constant fear and are facing threat to life from the BJP-led Centre. The recent legislations have increased the fear among Muslims and so to consolidate them into a unified force, the Muslim parties and organisations have joined hands for the first time,” said Advocate Muniruddin Sheriff, president, All India National League, to DT Next.

Recently, 11 Muslim parties and organisations in the state joined hands and decided to obtain one crore signatures from Muslims across southern India. They decided to start this as a movement and to take three months to achieve the target to strengthen their unity.

Sheriff also said that already NIA was targeting Muslim youths, but in 90 per cent of the cases they could not prove their involvement in crime cases in the court and have failed. The recent legislation gives immense power to NIA and it is aimed particularly at Muslim youths.

Similarly, issues relating to marriage comes under civil cases, but now triple talaq legislation make cases related to marriage a criminal offence where husbands will be sent to prison for three months. “If husbands are sent to prison how will he pay the alimony to his family and this is a direct assault on Muslims and their families,” said Sheriff.

Similarly, VMS Mustafa, founding president, Tamil Nadu Muslim League, which is another party to be part of the league of Muslim parties, said, “Recent legislations on NIA, triple talaq and Kashmir are aimed at sending Muslim families to streets and to make them live under constant fear. RSS has the policy of alienating Muslims in the country and Prime Minister Narendra Modi is following the RSS agenda.”

He also said that the BJP will further split Jammu and Kashmir into two as part of its divisive politics and to make Muslims suffer. He further questioned when union territories like Puducherry are demanding statehood, why did the Centre reduce the status of Jammu and Kashmir to a union territory.