India is heaven for minorities, Sikhs call PM Modi messiah: NCM chief Lalpura

New Delhi: India is "heaven" for minorities and Sikhs regard Prime Minister Narendra Modi as a "messiah" for what he has done for the community in the past 10 years, National Commission for Minorities (NCM) chairperson Iqbal Singh Lalpura said on Tuesday.

In an interview with PTI here, the senior BJP leader also slammed the AAP government in Delhi for exploiting the Sikh community for votes and not doing anything for them in the last 10 years.

"India is heaven for minorities. I would like to add that according to the 1951 census, the minority population was 16 per cent and the majority was 84 per cent.

"If they would have increased at that rate, the minority population at present would have been much less. But, according to 2011 census, the majority population has come down from 84 to 79 per cent and the minorities have gone up from 16 per cent to 21 per cent," he said.

"We (minorities) have been given the post of the president four times, PM once... you can do anything, if you are Azharuddin, you can be the captain of the Indian cricket team, if you are Bishen Singh Bedi, you can be captain, nobody can stop Farokh Engineer from playing. So this is what India is doing for us," Lalpura said.

He also pointed out that one field marshal and one air marshal have also been from among the minorities -- Sam Manekshaw and Arjan Singh.

"So India has given all the opportunities, now 62 officers in the central services were from the Muslim community, 11 from Jain community. Whosoever is competent can reach wherever they want," the former IPS officer and BJP's parliamentary board member said.

Lalpura also claimed that the Sikhs are very happy with Prime Minister Modi as what he has done in the last 10 years for the community, nobody had even thought of doing that before.

"He facilitated the Kartarpur corridor...Veer Baal Diwas is being marked. He has taken care of the history of Sikhs and celebrated 400th year of birth centenary of Guru Tegh Bahadur from the Red Fort, from where he was ordered to be murdered. This is what the present government is doing to settle all their issues.

"People love Modi ji, they call him messiah. I was writing a book on contribution of PM Modi to the Sikh cause and I wanted to use the word 'messiah', but he stopped me for doing it and said 'I am not a messaiah'. Then I had to use the word 'sevak'," Lalpura said.

Asked about concerns over violence against minorities, Lalpura said in society, individual crime has always been there.

"In India, I can say on oath and by experience, I have not seen even one instance of communal violence (in the real sense). I went to Nuh (where there was communal violence in 2023), they told me that Hindus saved the mosque and Muslims saved the Hindu temples. They were living together...same was the case in Jehangirpuri (Delhi)," he said.

"So we have to identify the criminals vitiating the system. As far as hate crime is concerned, America had more hate crime against Sikhs," the NCM chairperson said.

He asked why people are not looking at Pakistan where population of minorities was 22 per cent at time of partition.

"The day we were celebrating 500th birth anniversary of Guru Nanak, the daughter of the priest of Nankana Sahib gurudwara was converted to Islam," he said.

"If you want to play cricket, you cannot play as Yusuf Youhanna, you will have to become Mohammad Yusuf," Lalpura said.

Same is the case with Bangladesh where population of minorities has gone down, he added.

"So India is heaven for minorities. They are getting all the opportunities. As far as development work is concerned, there are more than 200 schemes for development and all are available for minorities. In fact, they have around 240 schemes," he said.

"I would quote my PM, I requested him about the policy when I joined here three-four years back, he said, 'If there is one child in the family who is not happy, how will the house live peacefully'," Lalpura said.

The NCM chief also talked about the ongoing work of compensation to 1984 anti-Sikh riots victims.

"In 1984, they were given just Rs 10,000, and according to Nanavati Commission, 2,733 people were killed in Delhi. They (family members of those killed) were to be given jobs but only 14 people were given jobs in the last 40 years. I and the commission took the initiative and then we have now got 100 people who are eligible," Lalpura said.

Hitting out at the AAP government, Lalpura said the teaching of Punjabi language was totally ignored by the present Delhi dispensation.

"The government of India is doing everything. When PM Modi came to power, he gave Rs 5 lakh to kin of everyone who was killed...four-five people are left and it has to be pursued," he said.

He said the AAP government has not done anything for the Sikh community except exploiting them.

"The colony of riot victims was known as widow colony. They requested that the name be changed, now it is known as 'Mata Gujri' colony, named after the mother of Guru Gobind Singh," Lalpura said.

On the Waqf Bill, the NCM chairperson said Waqf means donation and it is to be used for welfare of the community. He asserted that the legislation will help Muslims.

On the Uniform Civil Code, he said it is about the right of ownership of property, adoption and divorce.

Asserting that unanimity is required for it, Lalpura said it is not in any way interference in religious ceremonies.