HYDERABAD– All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) President Asaduddin Owaisi delivered a sharp rebuke to Union Minority Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju on Monday, accusing the government of reducing India’s minorities to the status of “hostages” rather than even second-class citizens.
Owaisi’s response came after Rijiju claimed that India is the only country where minorities enjoy more benefits and protections than the majority community. Reacting strongly on X (formerly Twitter), the Hyderabad MP wrote:
“India’s minorities are not even second-class citizens anymore. We are hostages.”
He reminded Rijiju that his position as a Union Minister is constitutional, not monarchical, and asserted that minority rights are guaranteed by the Constitution—not dispensed as favors.
“Is it a ‘benefit’ to be called Pakistani, Bangladeshi, jihadi, or Rohingya every single day? Is it ‘protection’ to be lynched? Is it protection that Indian citizens were kidnapped and pushed into Bangladesh? Is it a privilege to watch our homes, masjids, and mazaars being bulldozed illegally? To be made socially, politically, and economically invisible? Is it an ‘honor’ to be the target of hate speeches from no less than the Prime Minister of India?” he asked.
Owaisi also criticized what he called the selective dismantling of educational and social welfare schemes that had benefited Muslim communities.
“If you want to talk about ‘favors’, answer this: can Muslims be members of Hindu Endowment Boards? No. But your Waqf Amendment Act forces non-Muslims onto Waqf Boards—and allows them to form a majority. You discontinued the Maulana Azad National Fellowship. You defunded the pre-matric scholarship. You limited the post-matric and merit-cum-means scholarships. All because they benefited Muslim students,” he alleged.
He further pointed to declining indicators in education and economic participation among Muslims, citing government data.
“Muslims are now the only group whose numbers have fallen in higher education. Their presence in the informal economy has risen. They have been among the worst hit by your economic policies. Indian Muslims are the only group whose children are now worse off than their parents or grandparents. Intergenerational mobility has reversed. Muslim-concentrated areas are the ones most deprived of public infrastructure and basic services,” he stated.
Owaisi concluded by clarifying that the demand is not for special treatment but for equal rights under the Constitution.
“We are not asking to be compared with other minorities in other countries. We are not asking for more than what the majority community gets. We are demanding what the Constitution promises: social, economic, and political justice.” (Source: IANS)
