Minority Affairs Minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi on Tuesday, April 21, said that India is heaven for Muslims and those trying to vitiate the atmosphere of prosperity cannot be their friends.

Over the past few days, the Organization of Islamic Cooperation has been expressing concern regarding the alleged instances of Islamophobia throughout the country, especially rising during the COVID crisis. The OIC urged for immediate steps to be taken to protect the rights of the Muslim minority.

On this, Naqvi asserted that secularism and harmony are not a political fashion for India, but a perfect passion. ‘The constitutional, social and religious rights of all the citizens including minorities is India’s constitutional and moral guarantee,’ he said.

OIC’s Independent Permanent Human Rights Commission also tweeted, saying that the Indian media was negatively profiling the Muslims and subjecting them to discrimination.

1/2 #OIC-IPHRC condemns the unrelenting vicious #Islamophobic campaign in #India maligning Muslims for spread of #COVID-19 as well as their negative profiling in media subjecting them to discrimination & violence with impunity.

— OIC-IPHRC (@OIC_IPHRC) April 19, 2020

In his statement, Naqvi cautioned about the ‘Traditional and Professional Bogus Bashing Brigades’ spreading misinformation.

Countering the criticism, the minister said that critics who are prejudiced need to look at the ground reality of the nation before making statements.

‘In this country, there is such a large population of Muslims. An analysis of their educational, social and economic conditions in the last five years should be looked at, their share in government jobs has increased and they have been educationally and economically empowered,’ Naqvi said.

He also stated that the government is doing its job with conviction. ‘The prime minister whenever he speaks, he talks about the rights and welfare of 130 crore Indians,’ he said.

Serious criticism emerged after the Tablighi Jamaat congregation incident, with hate posts directed at the Islamic sect all over social media.

Last week, PM Narendra Modi on LinkedIn criticized any form of discrimination and appealed to the masses to be united, saying the virus sees no race, religion, caste, creed or language before striking and everyone is at risk of being affected by the pandemic.

Also Read: Nearly 30% Coronavirus Cases Linked to Tablighi Jamaat Gathering In Delhi: Health Ministry