Bengal Minister faces criticism within party over 'Muslim majority' comments
Kolkata (The Uttam Hindu): West Bengal Municipal Affairs & Urban Development Minister and the Kolkata Mayor Firhad Hakim has started facing criticism from his own party leaders, including Muslims also, for his recent comments predicting that the current “religious minorities” will soon become “majorities” in the state as well as the country. The two Trinamool Congress MLAs who criticized Hakim have the same name -- Humayun Kabir.
Soon after Hakim’s comments made during a public programme went viral on social media on Saturday evening, the party legislator from Bharatpur constituency in Murshidabad district Humayun Kabir advised the minister to be more careful about what he was saying at a public forum. His namesake and the party legislator from Debra constituency in West Midnapore district, who happens to be a former Indian Police Service (IPS) officer, made a more scathing attack through his social media post. He started his post on his social media wall by referring to a line by iconic Indian actor Late Rajesh Khanna in the legendary movie 'Anand' -- 'Jindagi lambi nahi bari honi chahiye Hujur Hakimji (Life should not be long but big, Mr Hakaimji)'.
“We want quality not quantity. It is better to have just two kids who will either become teachers or doctors or even cops like me, rather than having five kids who will become hawkers or migrant labourers or rickshaw pullers or vegetable vendors,” read his post. Soon after Hakim’s comments surfaced, the BJP leaders launched scathing attacks against him. BJP Information Technology cell chief and the party central observer for West Bengal Amit Malviya made a statement claiming that after revealing his true intentions by describing non-Muslims as “unfortunate” and endorsing Dawat-e-Islam’s efforts to convert Hindus to Islam, Hakim has now claimed that West Bengal and the rest of India will soon have a Muslim majority. West Bengal BJP chief Sukanta Majumdar also questioned why the other constituents of the opposition INDIA bloc were silent and refraining from condemning such a statement by Firhad Hakim.
