50 more Muslim members quit BJP over 'divisive politics'

Over 50 Muslim workers and office-bearers in the BJP in western Madhya Pradesh announced that they quit the party on Thursday over the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) row. Earlier, 48 Muslim office-bearers and workers of the BJP minority cell in Bhopal had bid good-bye to the party on January 12. Reports of en-masse resignations by Muslim workers from the BJP are pouring into state party headquarters from other parts of MP too.

Those who announced resignation on Thursday include office-bearers of the BJP minority cells in Indore, Mhow, Dewas, and Khargone. They said they are fed up with the BJP’s agenda of harping on one communally divisive issue after another.

“We hailed the party’s decision to annul Article 370 of the Constitution in Kashmir, we also stood with the party on criminalising Triple Talaq and the Supreme Court verdict on Ram temple. But, the BJP doesn’t seem to be tired of inflaming communal sentiments on Hindu-Muslim issue,” said one of them.

Accusing the BJP of deviating from its claim to be inclusive, the disillusioned workers said they cannot risk being alienated from their community by staying in the party.

Among those who resigned is Raziq Farshiwala of Indore, who is considered close to BJP national general secretary Kailash Vijayvargiya. Others are Khargone district minority cell president Taslim Khan and MP BJP minority cell member Saeeda Khan.

On January 12, as many as 48 members of the minority cell in Bhopal district, including the state media in-charge, spokesperson and district secretaries, quit the party, stating senior leadership refused to heed complaints of offensive remarks made by some leaders against a community.

A letter addressed to the state minority cell chief said: "The party once followed principles of Syama Prasad Mukherjee and Atal Bihari Vajpayee, didn’t indulge in discrimination and took everyone along, including minorities. But in the past few years, it has been hijacked by two-three big names and started working against a particular community."