Muslims in India can speak freely unlike Pakistan: Maulana Sajid Rashidi

New Delhi [India], December 17 (ANI): Condemning Pakistan foreign minister Bilawal Bhutto for his derogatory remarks against Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Kul Hind Imaam Association president Maulana Sajid Rashidi on Saturday said Muslims in India can speak freely unlike many Muslim countries.
Hitting out at Pakistan, Maulana Rashidi said "In Pakistan, every day there is a blast in mosques and mazars. What they are doing in the name of jihad is totally condemnable."
He said that Muslims in India can speak against the government as Constitution allows them to speak.
"In Pakistan, speaking against the government and the army becomes risky. But it does not happen In India. A Muslim can speak against the government and even against the court, staying within the ambit of the Constitution. Muslims here are living on their own choice and not under any pressure," Maulana Rashidi told ANI.
"In Gulf countries, people are hanged if they speak against the emperors. But there is a beautiful Constitution in India, under which you can keep your point," he added.
The Pak foreign minister made defamatory remarks during a press conference at the United Nations in New York.
Bilawal Bhutto's comments had followed a response to a question by Minister for External Affairs S Jaishankar from a Pakistani journalist, who accused India of spreading terror, and Jaishankar had said, "... It is the ministers of Pakistan who will tell how long Pakistan intends to practise terrorism."
The "derogatory" remarks made by Bilawal Bhutto Zardari against PM Modi have sparked outrage across the country.
In response to Jaishankar's remark, Bilawal unleashed a series of personal attacks on PM Modi and hit out at the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS).
In an official statement, the External Affairs Ministry too condemned the comments of the Pakistani Foreign Minister.
"These comments are a new low, even for Pakistan. Pakistani foreign minister's frustration would be better directed towards the masterminds of terrorist enterprises in his own country, who have made terrorism a part of their state policy. Pakistan needs to change its own mindset or remain a pariah," said Arindam Bagchi, the official spokesperson of the Ministry of External Affairs.
He also stated that Pakistan is a country that glorifies Osama bin Laden as a martyr and shelters terrorists like Lakhvi, Hafiz Saeed, Masood Azhar, Sajid Mir and Dawood Ibrahim. (ANI)