MEWAT (Haryana): A week after Prime Minister Narendra Modi talked of empowering minorities, the Bharatiya Janata Party launched a new welfare scheme in Haryana, with plans to conduct 100 rallies across the state. Union Minority Affairs Minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi launched the scheme in Muslim-dominated Mewat, saying such a big community can't be ignored.
In the news after two sisters were gang-raped and their parents murdered by a group of four men broke into their house on August 25, Mewat has been gripped with tension ever since. "If there is an atmosphere of fear then it is our responsibility to fix that. We cannot ignore such a huge community, and for that, we need development. That is why we have come among the people."
Under the scheme, the centre will provide new schools, water connections in the state, a new rail line, and a driving school in the region. The rally was also attended by Union Minister Rao Inderjit Singh.
There were also tensions recently in Mewat after a 'Gau Sewa Ayog' set up by the Haryana government had ordered biryani samples to be picked up from highway food joints to check for beef. Naqvi attributed the "sense of fear and misconceptions" among minorities about the NDA government to "disinformation campaigns" launched by its political opponents.
"This (misconception) has been created by our political opponents who never talked about the development of minorities," the Union minister said. He asserted the outreach programme was not aimed at securing votes but implementing government's developmental agenda.
