JEDDAH, 10 May 2006, 10 May 2006 — A senior Indian Muslim leader and Rajya Sabha member (Parliament’s upper house) Abu Asim Azmi said that Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah’s recent visit to India has boosted the morale of Indian Muslims.

The Samajwadi Party leader, Azmi, however bemoaned the fact that the Congress party, which professes secularism, has done little to promote the minorities while targeting likeminded parties in the Uttar Pradesh elections. But he was happy about King Abdullah’s recent visit to India, saying that it reflects the strong ties between the two countries. “Saudi Arabia and India enjoy historical relations in many fields, and King Abdullah has honored all Indians by regarding India as his second home,” he said in a telephonic interview with Arab News from Bombay.

“The royal visit clearly shows the importance of Indo-Saudi relations as King Abdullah chose India as one of the countries to visit on his first foreign tour after becoming the king of Saudi Arabia,” he added.

Azmi also took aim at the Congress government, which he said did not allow Muslim MPs to meet with the king. “But anyway his (the king’s) visit has boosted the morale of Indian Muslims,” he added.

Azmi lauded the Organization of Islamic Conference’s (OIC) role in the Danish cartoon controversy that created a big furor worldwide. He said the Indian Muslims weren’t far behind in condemning the blasphemous cartoons.

“Definitely the publication of cartoons demonstrates contempt of the religious beliefs of the Muslim community. These publications have abused freedom of speech by taking it to a dangerous, irresponsible and unacceptable level by showing disregard for the sensitivities of the Muslims around the world. “

Not only Indian Muslims but also the whole Muslim community around the globe view the publications of such offensive material as a serious attack on the integrity of their religion and as an attack on the global Muslim community. I really appreciate the way OIC handled this crisis, especially the efforts of the OIC Secretary- General Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu,” he said.

With election in the Uttar Pradesh state, which is ruled by the Samajwadi Party, round the corner all eyes were on the Rae Bareli by-election, and Azmi said his party is putting up a fight in the high-profile contest, in which Congress President Sonia Gandhi is a candidate.

“It is well-known that Congress chief Sonia’s position in the central UPA allianceled Congress is not less than that of the prime minister. If the people of Rae Bareli elect Sonia again it would not be surprising. For the mentality of the voters is if the person elected is powerful then they could expect more developments in their constituency, and if the leader is a heavyweight like Sonia then the chances of prioritized development is high. This will definitely weigh in the Rae Bareli election, which has been a Congress bastion.

“In the previous parliamentary elections Mulayam Singh (Uttar Pradesh chief minister) withdrew his candidate in favor of Sonia and gave her a free hand to keep the BJP and its alliance at bay. But in return, instead of marginalizing the BJP and viewing them as a rival, Sonia and Congress have always considered the Samajwadi Party as their enemy and they have not supported the SP-led state government in development programs. Our party is really serious and will give a tough fight to Sonia in this by-election,” Azmi said.

“Mulayam Singh’s son too joined in the electioneering as a counter to Rahul Gandhi, who canvassed for his mother in Rae Bareli. This shows the seriousness of our party in this election. We are trying our best to set a new trend,” he added.

Azmi side-stepped the issue of cine star and Samajwadi Party leader Raj Babbar’s ouster from the party and the subsequent launch of a new party by Babbar. “

Raj Babbar is a nice man. He had some personal differences with party chief Mulayam Singh and Secretary General Amar Singh. As far as his party is concerned, I say that India is a democratic country and everybody has a right to participate in its democratic process. Many political parties are formed every year and claim that they are the real followers of secularism. We will see in the coming assembly elections in UP and let the people of UP decide the future of his party.”

While condoling the death of BJP leader Pramod Mahajan, Azmi said: “It is a great setback for the party.” But he added that the party itself was in decay as senior leaders are leaving it in droves. He said the Samajwadi Party has always considered BJP as its main adversary and we are committed to build a secular India.

On the prospects of Samajwadi Party making an impact in Maharashtra state with the split in Shiv Sena following Raj Thackeray’s disagreement with Shiv Sena supremo Bal Thackeray’s son Uddhav, Azmi said there will be no major realignment in Maharashtra politics.

“No doubt Raj’s new party will weaken Shiv Sena but the Congress and the NCP, though still strong, will get only minimal advantage out of the situation (the split in Shiv Sena). As I have said often, we will fight against the Congress and the Shiv Sena until they stop their discriminative policies toward the minorities,” he added.

Azmi again pointed a finger at the Congress for doing little to stop communal riots in Gujarat. He said with bloody riots gripping Baroda and tension all over Gujarat, the Congress government at the center took its time to act.

“Sonia Gandhi has no time to visit Baroda, as she is spending all her energy in trying to topple Mulayam Singh and his party in Uttar Pradesh. The so-called secular party Congress, which is the ruling party at the center, is not doing enough to control the riots in Gujarat despite knowing the (Narendra) Modi government’s bias in planning riots against Muslims,” he added.