Mumbai, April 22 (IANS) Softening their stand on the Congress, prominent Shia organisations, community leaders and Islamic scholars Tuesday appealed to Muslims to vote for the party in the ongoing national elections.
Top Shia leaders announced their decision Tuesday after a meeting late Monday night in the city, an official said.
"Remember the Gujarat riots before voting for the Bharatiya Janata Party's prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi. It's the RSS which is trying to make him a hero," Khoja Ashan Ashri Jamaat president Safdar Karmali said on behalf of various groups.
Karmali said the Muslim community "is not safe" under Modi and in order to foil the designs of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), Muslims must vote for parties with secular credentials, which are the Congress and its allies.
Ali Akbar Sharoff, another prominent Shia leader, said that past differences of the community with the Congress and its leaders like Ahmed Patel must be buried now and Muslims should cast their votes in favour of that party.
Shia leader Shabbir Somji expressed concern that India was passing through a crucial phase with communal forces raising their heads and it was imperative for the minorities to strengthen the hands of the secular forces led by the Congress.
The development comes five days after a delegation of Shia leaders led by state Minority Affairs Minister Naseem Khan and senior community leader Irfan Kidwai met Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan and expressed their full support to the Congress.
The meeting came soon after Lucknow-based Shia cleric Maulana Kalbe Jawwad met BJP president Rajnath Singh and expressed the community's support to the party.
The Shias have also rejected the so-called 'fatwa' (edict) issued by Maulana Jawwad, saying that as per the community's customs and traditions, 'fatwas' can only be issued from Iraq or Iran.
Hectic campaigning is also underway on various social networking websites, appealing to the country's 28 crore Muslims to vote en bloc for the Congress and defeat communal forces.
Some of the major groups that have expressed support to the Congress include the All India Shia Personal Law Board, the Mazare Shaeed Salis (Agra), the Mogha Masjid Imambada, the Imam of Shia Rehmatabad Masjid and Haideri Federation of India.
Kiran Bedi joins BJP (Lead)
New Delhi, Jan 15 (IANS) Former IPS officer Kiran Bedi joined the BJP Thursday, ahead of Delhi assembly elections scheduled Feb 7.Flanked by Bharatiya Janata Party president Amit Shah and Finance
Hackers use Social Media to plan major attacks
Kolkata, March 7 (IANS) The rapid expansion of social media has enabled hackers to closely cooperate and group with each other to launch measured attacks, an industry expert said here on
Free Khalistani prisoners, Badal tells Rajnath
New Delhi, Jan 8 (IANS) Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal Thursday urged Home Minister Rajnath Singh to release some Khalistani prisoners who he said were aged and even blind.Badal told
Then the speed of Corona started increasing: Delhi government's big decision; 500 will have to be paid for not wearing a mask. fine, schools will remain open
In view of the danger of new variants of Kovid, the Delhi government has made it compulsory to apply masks. The Delhi Disaster Management Authority (DDMA) took this decision in its meeting on
Forgotten joys of homemade gujiyas, Mathhis (Holi is on March 6)
New Delhi, March 3 (IANS) Bhavna Lamba, 28, has fond memories of her mother and grandmother in a kitchen bustling with the sound of the utensils and emanating an intoxicating fragrance of sweet
France's big decision before Modi-Macron meeting: Withdraws from the submarine project for Navy, P-75 refuses to join India project
PM Narendra Modi is on a Europe tour. During his Europe tour, he will also visit France, where he will also meet Emmanuel Macron, the second-time President. But, even before Modi's visit to France,
Gurgaon sees first swine flu case of 2015
Gurgaon, Jan 7 (IANS) In the first case of swine flu this year in the Millennium City, a 32-year-old woman has been found positive for the disease here, a doctor said Wednesday.Kavita, a housewife
Plea against SC's income disclosure rules dismissed
New Delhi, March 10 (IANS) The Delhi High Court on Tuesday dismissed a plea challenging the Supreme Court rules requiring an advocate and litigant to cite their annual income and PAN number while
More than 200 air travelers found corona infected: Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya
Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya said on Wednesday that during random sampling at international airports, more than 200 air passengers were found to be Corona positive. BF.7 variants have been
Suspected case of polio in Gurgaon
Gurgaon, Jan 24 (IANS) A suspected case of polio has been reported from near Gurgaon and samples of an 18-month-old girl child have been sent for tests, a doctor said Saturday.Symptoms of polio