PM chose not to warn those spewing venom against Muslims: Azam Khan

Rampur (UP), Sep 21: Uttar Pradesh minister Azam Khan took a swipe at Narendra Modi over his statement praising Muslims, saying "while the Prime Minister acknowledged Muslims as patriots" he chose not to warn those "spewing venom" against the minority community.

In a statement released here yesterday, the senior Samajwadi Party leader said the Prime Minister called Muslims 'desh bhaktas (patriots)' but abstained from advising those terming Muslims as "anti-nationals and agents of Al Qaeda" to abstain from making such remarks.

"As a matter of fact, he (Modi) has permitted his entire battalion to spew venom against Muslims," Khan added.

The Uttar Pradesh minister said "Muslims have never been victims of misguidance and they had obeyed great leaders of freedom movement like Mahatma Gandhi, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, Jawaharlal Nehru and Maulana Abul Kalam Azad..."

The Prime Minister said in a television interview that Indian Muslims will live and die for India and that they will not dance to the tunes of terror outfit Al Qaeda.

"My understanding is that they are doing injustice towards the Muslims of our country. If anyone thinks Indian Muslims will dance to their tune, they are delusional.

"Indian Muslims will live for India, they will die for India -- they will not want anything bad for India," he told CNN in an interview.

PTI