All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen(AIMIM) President Asaduddin Owaisi has claimed that Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s decision to demonetise high-denomination currency notes has adversely affected Muslims of the country.
In an article for a news portal, Owaisi referred to a Reserve Bank of India (RBI) report which said that Indian Muslims constitute 14 per cent of the total population, but their share in different financial assets categories is disproportionately low to their numbers.
He also quoted the World Bank CGAP Report that revealed that in towns where the Muslim population is more than 50 per cent, only 53 per cent of households have a bank account. Whereas, this percentage moves up to 68 per cent if all urban areas are taken into account.
“The money coming to ATMs is very little (throughout our country) and it is a pittance in areas where vulnerable sections - for example, Muslims - live. They are already financially excluded, they don't have banks in Muslim areas, and so, for them, life has become very tough with the notes ban causing a huge economic and social impact on their daily lives,” he wrote in the article.
Owaisi also alleged that he is branded ‘communal’ for raising issues relating to Muslims, Dalits or vulnerable sections.
“The moment I raise this issue of Muslims or Dalits or vulnerable sections, there immediately is an outcry that this man is being communal. How can it be communal when I am asking for more banks, more accounts? I am asking for more ATMs, more cash for ATMs as compared to other areas,” he added.
