Read what minister in charge of minorities has to say about Muslims

The Sangh Parivar’s publication on Dr Ambedkar, Sangharsh Ek Mahamanav Ka, was released here today by the Union Minister of State for S...

The Sangh Parivar’s publication on Dr Ambedkar, Sangharsh Ek Mahamanav Ka, was released here today by the Union Minister of State for Social Justice and Empowerment, Sanjay Paswan.

Here’s one translated paragraph from the book that has already made headlines:

‘‘After struggling with Gandhi, Jinnah brought about Partition in 1947. Not all the Muslims in the country went to Pakistan. The loyalty to the nation of those who remained here became suspect. As the creator of Pakistan, Jinnah put a stamp (mohar) on their forehead which can never be erased. That this is a community that can never be trusted is the kind of belief that Jinnah’s politics made unavoidable.’’

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The paragraph appears in a section on the struggle between Gandhi and Jinnah which forms part of a chapter on ‘Gandhi, Ambedkar and Jinnah’. The chapter roughly conveys that while both Jinnah and Ambedkar were strongly opposed to Gandhi, Ambedkar refused to make common cause with Jinnah. While Jinnah weakened the nation, Ambedkar strengthened it.

The book is the Hindi translation of a text by Ramesh Patange, RSS-affiliated editor of a Nagpur weekly.

Paswan, who released the book, said he endorsed every word in that paragraph. What’s ironical is that Paswan’s ministry looks after minority welfare and oversees most of the Government’s programmes and institutions related to this, including the National Minorities Development and Finance Corporation and the National Commission for Minorities.

Claiming to have read the book, the minister read aloud the entire portion in the presence of reporters and said there was nothing objectionable in it.

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‘‘This is written in the context of Jinnah and I endorse every word.’’ He added, ‘‘Mujhe desh ke Muslims pe garv hai, yeh kalank Jinnah ne lagaya hai (I am proud of the Muslims of this country. This stain has been left on them by Jinnah).’’

‘‘We want to wash this stain away but the Congress and the Samajwadis have through their policies ensured that the stain remains,’’ he said.

When asked how this ‘stain’ could be removed, Paswan said the BJP had been trying to do exactly that. ‘‘This stain cannot be washed away by tushtikaran (appeasement). Look at our resolution on Iraq and compare it with what Pakistan did. We deplored the American action and we did this not because of Muslims but because everyone in the country agreed on the statement,’’ he said.