BJP creating rift between Muslims: Ex-Cong leader

Congress leader and former state minorities’ welfare minister Anees Ahmad on Sunday criticised the BJP government for trying to create a rift among sects of Muslim community in the light of Central Wakf Council (CWC)’s allegations that he and Maulana Vastanvi acquired funds unfairly from it.

Mr Ahmad told The Asian Age that while Prime Minister Narendra Modi has said that Muslims should be treated “as their own,” the actions of party leaders and its post holders say otherwise. Mr Ahmad’s tirade has been prompted after the CWC alleged that he and Maulana Vastanvi had resorted to unfair means to get funds from the council. Mr Vastanvi is a cleric based in Nandurbar, Maharashtra. According to CWC, a trust chaired by Mr Ahmad’s wife took a loan worth Rs 1 crore from the wakf fund for a dental college but no such college was built. Mr Vastanvi’s trust had taken a loan of Rs 1.1 crore without it being registered with the state wakf board. When The Asian Age contacted Mr Vastanvi, he was not reachable.

“The BJP is trying to divide the Muslims in India on sectarian lines by creating a rift among the adherents of the Sunni and Ahle Hadees sects by resorting to mud-slinging and maligning their leaders through their stooges,” said Mr Ahmad. However, Nationalist Congress Party spokesperson Nawab Malik said that Mr Ahmad was being cynical.