AAP leader Shazia Ilmi slammed for asking Muslims to be 'communal'
New Delhi: Aam Aadmi Party leader Shazia Ilmi, who was on Tuesday shown in a video footage telling Muslims to be more 'communal' than 'secular', has been slammed for her controversial remarks, including by Muslim leaders.
In the video, which surfaced on Tuesday, Ilmi said that Muslims’ votes split as they were “too secular” and they “should become communal” and vote keeping in mind “our own interest”.
“Don’t be much secular. Muslims are too secular and they should become communal. They are not communal and do not vote for themselves. Arvind Kejriwal is ours. Muslims have remained secular for long...have voted for the Congress and helped them win. Don't be so secular and look at your house (community) this time. Other parties have their vote bank intact and Muslim votes split. This is a controversial statement, but we should look at our own interest,” Ilmi said in the video.
The BJP condemned Ilmi's remarks, and is planning to file a complaint with the Election Commission.
Congress' Meem Afzal described the AAP Lok Sabha candidate's remarks as “childish”.
“Shazia Ilmi's comments are very childish. I am surprised that someone who belongs to such a secular family said all this,” Meem Afzal said.
Another Congress leader JP Agarwal said, “Bade hi ghatiya shabd hain, yeh (Shazia Ilmi) bhi Togadia ho gayi hain.”
Maulana Khalid Rasheed described Ilmi's remarks as “objectionable”.
“It's a highly objectionable comment from Shazia Ilmi... it's an attempt to communalise elections,” he said.
While condemning the remarks, Maulana Mufti Mukarram demanded the Election Commission to take action against the AAP leader.
Defending her remarks, Ilmi had yesterday tweeted: “Well someone was accusing Muslims of being communal. I think Muslims keep voting for Congress which uses them as vote bank.”
She also refused to apologise for her remarks, reportedly telling a news channel that she had said nothing wrong.
The AAP disowned Ilmi's remarks, writing on Twitter: "AAP does not believe in this kind of politics nor does it endorse it."
courtesy: z