Jamal Siddiqui, National President of Bharatiya Janata Party Minority Front
Credit: PTI Photo
Bengaluru: BJP’s minority morcha national president Jamal Siddiqui announced on Wednesday that youth achievers from minority communities would be felicitated with the Dr A P J Abdul Kalam youth startup award on August 12 – International Youth Day.
He told reporters here, “Kalam was a nationalist. Though Congress and other parties have forgotten him, he is still relevant for BJP and citizens of India. In his memory, we are organising the ‘Kalam ko Salam’ programme and are honouring young industrialists in the country. For this, we are providing online application forms, which are available both on BJP and minority morcha websites. These achievers will be felicitated at BJP office in Delhi on August 12”.
Recollecting that Kalam spoke of uniting the country, Jamal accused Congress of considering such individuals as leaders who were “dividing” the country.
“Congress conducted a caste census in Karnataka, but discarded it. They are doing another census now, but even that will be discarded. Amongst Muslims and Christians also there are castes. The prime minister keeps talking about the Pasmanda Muslims and is working for their upliftment. But if we don’t count them, how can they prosper? Congress doesn’t want the upliftment of the minorities”.