Union Minister Satya Pal Singh Baghel on Tuesday said "tolerant Muslims can be counted on fingers" and it too "was a tactic to lead a public life wearing a mask" as it leads to Vice-President, Governor or Vice-Chancellor posts.
According to the report in NDTV, Baghel said “But the real face of such ‘so-called intellectuals’ from the community gets revealed after they complete their term in office or retire”.
Baghel who is Union Minister of State for Law and Justice as per the report made the comments while addressing the Dev Rishi Narad Patrakar Samman Samaroh - an event organised by the RSS's media wing Indraprastha Vishwa Samvad Kendra to present awards to journalists.
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"Tolerant Muslims can be counted on fingers. I think their number is not even in the thousands. And, that too is a tactic to live in public life wearing the mask as the route leads to the house of vice president, governor or vice chancellor,"Baghel was quoted in the report as having said.
He added: "But when they retire, they give real statements. When they leave the chair, they give a statement which shows their reality”.
He also commented on Mughal emperor Akbar.
"It did not come from his heart. Otherwise, the massacre of Chittorgarh would not have happened. Look at the Mughal period… the deeds of Aurangzeb. Sometimes, I wonder how did we survive,” he was quoted as having said.
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Baghel said India's bad days began in 1192 AD when Muhammad Ghori defeated Rajput King Prithviraj Chouhan, he said.
Baghel also raised the issue of religious conversion to allege that the number of people who have been converted to another religion through ‘gande-tabeez’ (amulets) is larger than those under the swords, it said.
"Be it Khwaja Gareeb Nawaz Saheb, Hazrat Nizamuddin Aulia, or Saleem Chisti… Still today, people from our community go there in large numbers seeking children, jobs, tickets (to contest election), ministerial berth, elevation from a minister of state to a cabinet minister," he was quoted as having said.
He also said members of the minority community feel that since they were "rulers" for such a long period, how could they become "subjects".
"The solution to the problem lies in providing good quality education. It can give some solution to the problem one day. If they study in a madrassa, they will learn Urdu, Arabic and Persian. All literature is good but with such study, they will become Pesh-Imam. And if they study physics and chemistry, they will become Abdul Kalam," Baghel was quoted as having said.
