On Friday, September 29, Bihar Sunni Waqf Board chairman Irshadullah courted controversy among his brethren after he admitted the common Hindu ancestry of everyone living in India including Indian Muslims. Speaking to a news channel, Irshadullah said that all Indian Muslims are converted from Hinduism. He added that the ancestors of Indian Muslims are Hindus and that no Muslims came to India from outside, nor was India ever a Muslim country.
“All the Muslims in Hindustan were converted from Hindus only. Our ancestors are Hindus. None of the Indian Muslims came from outside,” Irshadullah said.
बिहार के सुन्नी वक्फ बोर्ड के चेयरमैन इरशादुल्लाह ने दिया बड़ा बयान,"भारत में रहने वाले मुस्लिम हिंदुओं से ही कन्वर्टेड हैं, हमारे पूर्वज हिंदू थे"I#Irshadullah #Bihar | Sunni Waqf Board pic.twitter.com/mcZuS9nndD
— Deshhit News (@deshhit_news) September 30, 2023
The Bihar Sunni Waqf Board chairman showered praises on Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and his government’s work for done for the “minorities”. He further called Nitish Kumar the third most popular political leader in the country.
Reportedly, Irshadullah also attacked All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) chief Asaduddin Owaisi by calling him the “B team” of the Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP). He also asked Owaisi to spare the Muslims of the country adding that the AIMIM supremo is working on the lines of the BJP.
Irshadullah, while taking a dig at Owaisi stated that for the welfare of minorities, construction of a multipurpose Waqf building on the land of eight Waqf estates in Muzaffarpur, East Champaran, Kishanganj, and Darbhanga at the cost of Rs 114 crore in Bihar, construction on the land of a Waqf estate in Samastipur, and Nalanda is ongoing. In addition, the development of minority residential schools is underway in many districts.
Former Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad made a similar admission
In August this year, a video featuring Ghulam Nabi Azad went viral wherein the former Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad is seen admitting the common Hindu ancestry of everyone living in India including Indian Muslims. He was seen making this statement as he addressed a program in a higher secondary school in the Chiralla town of the Doda district in Jammu and Kashmir where a significant number of Muslims were present.
The viral video clip is from a speech he gave in a program held on 9th August 2023.
Big breaking .
— Aquib Mir (@aquibmir71) August 16, 2023
Hindu Religion is much older than Islam in India. Muslims in our country are because of Conversion from Hindus and in Kashmir all Muslims were converted from Kashmiri Pandits. Everybody is born in Hindu Dharma only. Azad
Retweet it. pic.twitter.com/NdgwUFYw1L
Bihar CM Nitish Kumar accused of playing appeasement politics
On September 28, Chief Minister Nitish Kumar offered ‘chadar’ at Khanquah Mujibiya Dargah in Patna. Taking a dig at the Bihar CM over his recent visit to Khanquah-e-Mujibiya in Patna’s Phulwari Sharif, Union Minister Giriraj Singh said that Nitish Kumar’s visit to the dargah was a “political gimmick” and his “stunt” would barely affect Muslim voters.
It may be recalled that on 17th February 2023, Bihar’s chief minister Nitish Kumar said that those who want to make India a Hindu nation want to destroy the country. “People of every religion and sect live here. If one wants to do this (make India ‘Hindu-Rashtra’) then one wants to destroy the country. We should only adhere to what the Father of the Nation Mahatma Gandhi said. He was killed eventually. We are following the path of Gandhiji,” the Bihar CM was quoted as saying.