RIYADH, 22 May — A firebrand Muslim leader from Maharashtra alleged that hard-line Hindu groups were threatening Muslim businessmen in Bombay.
Abu Asim Azmi, president of the Maharastra unit of Samajwadi Party, said more than 100 top Muslim businessmen have been threatened by Hindu groups, affiliated to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Bombay, after the Hindu-Muslim riots in Gujarat.
Azmi was speaking during a reception hosted by the Riyadh chapter of Aligarh Muslim University Old Boys Association (AMOUBA) last night.
Speaking about the systematic killings of Muslims in the western Indian state of Gujarat, Azmi said the official figure of killings in Gujarat was much less than the actual number of deaths.
“About 10,000 Muslims were killed in last two months of communal clashes in Gujarat, most of them were children and women,” said Azmi. He said the figure was based on the independent assessment of a group of senior politicians who visited the riot-battered state. The government says over 950 people had died in the communal clashes.
Azmi said that a total of eight million Muslims have been killed in India since 1947. He called on the Muslim leaders to forge unity to safeguard their rights and to fight the divisive campaign of the right-wing Hindu groups.
He emphasized that Gujarat had exposed the hidden agenda of the BJP.
