Owaisi tears into ‘Muslim appeasement’ view after controversy

With TMC’s election strategist Prashant Kishor controversially saying that minority appeasement by the Left, Congress and TMC has led to Hindus supporting the BJP in West Bengal, AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi has criticized the view that Muslims have been beneficiaries of decades of appeasement. In a series of tweets today, he said that Muslims have actually been scapegoated by commentators. 

Saying that Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s celebrated poll strategist is speaking his fact-free mind, Owaisi said that the TMC supremo has allowed majoritarian communalism to take root in Bengal. 

In one of his tweets, Owaisi said that Muslims are 27% of the Bengal but have only 6% of government jobs. Besides, only 11% of students in higher education are Muslims and 80% of rural Muslims earn less than Rs 5,000, Owaisi said. 

Six worst-performing districts on healthcare have a Muslim population share of more than 25% in Bengal, he lamented, adding that the Muslim share in the prison population is 37%.

Criticizing the Left, Owaisi said that the CPM’s most famous land reforms didn’t reach Muslims, leaving 3/4th of the community landless. 

He accused Mamata Banerjee of likening Muslims to cows to be milked. “Now she has to beg Muslims to not divide their votes. If there’s appeasement then why this begging?” the Hyderabad MP asked.