If Muslims were oppressed in India, would their population have increased ? : Sitharaman rejects allegations of violence against Muslims

Nirmala Sitharaman, India’s Finance Minister, while talking about economic growth in India at the Peterson Institute for International Economics

Washington (USA) – “When India was partitioned, Pakistan was also created. Pakistan declared itself an Islamic country. At that time, it was said that minorities will be protected. Today, all the minority communities there are dwindling in number. They are being killed, there are some Muslim sections too, who are being killed. There is violence against Muhajirs, Shias and every other class that is not accepted into the mainstream. In most cases, blasphemy is being misused out of personal vendetta. In such cases, the victims are immediately convicted. Neither is their investigation done properly, nor is their case prosecuted in Courts. However, in India you will see Muslims doing business, their children getting education. The Indian Government is giving them scholarships. If there had been violence against Muslims all over India, they would have suffered. So, this is clearly a false statement. Has the population of Muslims in India decreased ? Has the death rate in any community increased at all ? I appeal to those who publish such reports to come to India and prove their claims”, said Nirmala Sitharaman, India’s Finance Minister, at the Peterson Institute for International Economics (PIIE) in USA.

Rebutting the perception of violence against Muslims in India, finance minister #NirmalaSitharaman has said that the Muslim population in India has grown since 1947 even as minorities of all kinds have been “decimated” in Pakistan.https://t.co/NRkUd1swJ9

— Hindustan Times (@htTweets) April 11, 2023

(Credit : India Today)

Adam Posen, President of PIIE, had asked if certain perceptions about India are affecting investment. To this, Sitharaman said that the answer can be sought from the investors who have come and are coming to India. “If anyone wants to invest, I just want to say, look at what is happening in India. Do not listen to the opinions of people who have never been to India, but still, they are the ones who express opinions about India”, Sitharaman added.