"BJP likes to play with religion...": AIUDF's Rafiqul Islam criticises ending 'Namaz Break' tradition in Assam Assembly

Guwahati (Assam) [India], February 23 (ANI): All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF) General Secretary Rafiqul Islam slammed the Bharatiya Janata Party over the Assam government ending the 90-year-old tradition of 'Namaz Break' in the state Assembly.
Stating that 31 out of 126 MLAs in Assam are Muslims, he said the break is "not a big deal" and further accused the BJP of 'playing' with religious issues.
Speaking to ANI, Islam said, "Today, there are 31 Muslim MLAs in the Assam Assembly out of 126. We used to get a Friday break for one to one and a half hours. Earlier, there was the Congress government, BJP, AGP and Janata Dal, but there was no problem. But the BJP amended the rule in the last session. Even then, we had objected to it."
"If there are 31 Muslim members, then this break is not a big deal. During lunch, there is a break for 2 hours. It is in our hands. The breaks are decided during the meeting of the Business Advisory Committee. BJP likes to play with the religion issue," he added.
The AIDUF leader said that the Muslim MLAs had to miss the assembly session last Friday because the break has been ended. He further attacked the BJP-RSS, accusing them of imposing their religion on others.
"It is the ideology of the BJP-RSS to attack other religions and impose their religion. On Friday, we went out for Friday prayer. We missed the session, and during that time, many important discussions were held on many topics. We are members of the Assam Assembly and we want to participate on important issues. We have to attend the namaz, and during that time, there may be important discussions on bills and other topics. We have been deprived of it. This is not good for democracy. We requested the speaker but our demand was not met," he added.
In August last year, the Assam assembly abolished the British-era rule that enabled Muslim legislators of the Assam assembly to take a 2-hour break to offer Namaz (prayer) on Fridays. This practice was introduced by Sayed Saadulla of the Muslim League in 1937.
The AIUDF leader further spoke on Prime Minister Narendra Modi's upcoming visit to Assam and alleged that though the PM talks about the North East, the same can't be seen in his actions.
"There was one Advantage Assam earlier also but we have not seen much development after it. Assam CM visited many foreign countries. If there is foreign investment, we do not oppose it. In Assam, there are not many industries. A semiconductor industry has started, which is good. A lot of industries have been closed. There is too much unemployment," Islam said.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will inaugurate the Advantage Assam 2.0 at Khanapara Veterinary College field in Guwahati on February 25. (ANI)