More communal riots in Rajasthan, UP, than in Gujarat, Maulana Madani tells Aap Ki Adalat

New Delhi: The general secretary of Jamiat Ulema Hind, Maulana Mahmood Madani has indirectly praised Narendra Modi by saying that there are more Muslim youths in the jails of Maharashtra than in Gujarat, and more communal riots have taken place in Rajasthan and UP than in Gujarat. The Muslim cleric said: "I don't say any such things in private or in public to show that I support Modi. But if I compare Gujarat with Maharashtra and Rajasthan, then people will say I support Modi. Once I was asked, in the last 10 years since 2002, there has been no communal riot in Gujarat, whereas in Rajasthan, in the last two years, more than four dozen riots took place, and in the last one and a half year, in Uttar Pradesh there were more than 102 riots. Then, please tell me, who is right and who is wrong?"Madani said, more Muslim youths are in the jails of Maharashtra and Rajasthan than in Gujarat. He said: "There are two lines of thinking in India - one is inclusive, the other is divisive. We expect from the Congress to promote inclusive thinking, but unfortunately, some of their leaders have created such a situation, that they appear to be divisive. In such a situation, we are left with nothing but to oppose them. The number of Muslims in Maharashtra jails are much higher than those in Gujarat jails. When I say this, they say I am supporting Modi, but my aim is to say that Maharashtra has done the wrong thing."Madani was replying to questions in Rajat Sharma's show Aap Ki Adalat on India TV. Asked about Congress party's charge that he was supporting Modi, Madani replied: "Those who are raising such questions should themselves introspect, then they won't have the courage to question me. Since 2002, I was the one who opposed Modi the most. On March 23, 2002, we held the first conference and since then have been organising till today." Madani admitted saying that Muslims in Gujarat voted for the BJP in muncipal elections. "They (BJP) won in such places during the municipal elections, and I said, Muslims may have voted for them, but I never said, Muslims throughout the country will vote for them."The Muslim cleric alleged that most of the Congress leaders "were on the payrolls " of Modi. "Most of the Congress leaders there (in Gujart) are on the payrolls. They do not work for Congress, they work for Modi. They want Modi to win. During the Gujarat riots, there were many people from Congress who were physically involved. My father had given a list of 17-18 such people to Sonia Gandhi".Asked by Rajat Sharma, what he would like to tell the Muslim voters, Maulana Madani replied: "This is not a contest between individuals. They have made it Rahul versus Modi. Modi speaks good, but this should show in his actions too".Asked whether Muslims voters would resort to tactical voting this time, Maulana Madani replied: "Only Muslims do not do tactical voting. In Punjab, Akalis also do the same. Dalits will also do, because they feel if more people of their choice are elected, they will stop those whom they don't like"Madani lashed out at what he called "so-called secular parties", who, he alleged, were trying to take Muslim votes by creating fear instead of doing good work among them. Maulana Mahmood Madani in Aap Ki Adalat will be telecast today (Saturday Oct 26) on India TV at 10 pm, and on Sunday Oct 27 at 10 am and 10 pm.