Srinagar February (KNS): During her visit to Haryana, Dr Darakhshan Andrabi, Chairperson of Waqf Development Committee of Union Ministry of Minority Affairs, today visited many Ziarats in the state of Haryana managed by Waqf Board. Later she paid obeisance at the Shrine of Hazrat Bu-Ali Shah Qalander Sahib (ra) at Panipat. Accompanied by CWC DO Dr Mohammad Khursheed Warsi & CEO of Haryana Waqf Board Imtiyaz Khizar, Dr Andrabi paid floral respects to the saint and joined the prayers for peace and prosperity of the country.

As per the statement issued to KNS, Dr Andrabi also visited the resting place of famous Urdu poet Altaf Hussain Haali. Dr Andrabi later spoke to the media about many issues related to Muslims in India. “Muslims in India are coming out of poverty and illiteracy like other backward communities in the country. During seventy years, Muslims were only used as vote banks in India but nothing concrete was done to uplift them from their acute poverty and lack of education. The growth index of Muslims in India has improved like never before,” said Dr Andrabi. She said that the Modi government has provided all facilities to minorities through dozens of welfare schemes, but Muslims need to come out of the political-traps and take benefits from these schemes to improve their lives. In reply to a question about the fear among Muslims in India, Dr Andrabi said that India was the safest country for minorities in the world but anarchists and desperate opposition parties within India supported by those foreign forces who hate India’s peaceful growth have created a hoax of Muslim-fear which is just a propaganda and is far from the reality. “The biggest minority of the country is the poorest minority community in India and it is a shame on the earlier political systems that ruled India and again a shame on the so-called Muslim leaders who only exploited the community on baseless sentimental issues leaving them in the state of utter backwardness. Now when the present government is providing them equal opportunities for economic growth, educational excellence and social upliftment, the exploiters are in pain as they want the deviation from non-issues to the real life-issues. They are spreading lies,” said Dr Darakhshan. She said that Ministry of Minority Affairs is working on war footing to improve the life-standard of Muslims in India and numerous welfare schemes of the Govt of India are specially designed to improve the life of the modern Muslim community (KNS)