PATNA: Union minister Giriraj Singh said on Wednesday that infiltrators like the Rohingyas and Bangladeshi Muslims should not be covered by the caste-based enumeration, even as he pitched for bringing the Muslims in general in the ambit of the caste survey.
Talking to media before the start of the all-party meeting on the issue in Patna, Giriraj said: “I am not against caste census, but Muslims should also be included in it as they also take benefits (from government schemes).”
Pointing to the Bangladeshi infiltrators and the possible presence of the Rohingya Muslims in the state, Singh said in 1991, state BJP leaders Rajendra Gupta and Janardan Yadav had submitted a petition to the concerned pleading that the Bangladeshi infiltrators should be kept outside the census. “As far as I know, around 4 lakh of them were left out following their (Gupta and Yadav’s) petition,” Singh said. Singh also demanded reconsideration of the definition of “minority” and, in fact, stressed that the category should be omitted (from the Constitution). “The concept of minority category should be redefined. In fact, it should be dropped,” Singh said, adding that the Narendra Modi government believes in ‘sabka saath, sabka vishwas’. In the backdrop of the alleged “discovery” of a Shivling at the Gyanvapi mosque in Varanasi, Singh attacked the country’s first PM Jawaharlal Nehru, saying he pursued a policy of appeasement towards the Muslims.
3 parties not invited to all-party meet: Meanwhile, both factions of LJP and VIPwere not invited to the all-party meeting convened to discuss the caste census as they didn’t meet the criterion of having at least a member in the state assembly.
