BJP minister Giriraj Singh stokes controversy, says 'rollback minority status allotted to Indian Muslims'

Lucknow: With the political scenario heating up in the poll-bound Uttar Pradesh, Union minister and Bharatiya Janata party (BJP) leader stoked up a controversy on Sunday as he called to review the definition of ‘minorities’ in the country. 

"Today, looking at the growing population of Muslims in the country, the government should rollback the 'minority status' allotted to the community," the BJP minister Giriraj Singh tweeted today. 

हिंदुस्तान में मुस्लिम की जनसंख्या इतनी है की उन्हें अब अल्पसंख्यक से बाहर होना चाहिए,आज देश को जरूरत है अल्पसंख्यक की परिभाषा पर एक बहस की। pic.twitter.com/lm3Mgalf66 — Giriraj Singh (@girirajsinghbjp) March 4, 2017

The minister also shared a report of 'Pew Research Centre' and called for a fresh debate on minorities of the country. 

"We need to have a relook on the definition of minority tag given to the Muslims having a population of over 20 crores in the country," he said.

This is not the first time when the minister has stirred a controversy by commenting on the minority status of the Muslim in the country. In November last year, the minister had asserted a similar remark on the Muslim community. 

"The places where they (Muslims) are in large numbers as well as where they are less in number…at both places they are called 'minority'," he said.

"The Muslim population in the country was 21 crore and therefore, it is not proper to treat such a large population as the minority. A new law should be passed to change their minority status," he said. 

As per the state's official records, their population is 19 per cent of Bihar's 10.5 crore population. Muslims are in a majority in Kishanganj district, with 80 per cent population. But still they are getting minority status," the minister said.

Earlier in October last year, Giriraj had asked the Hindu community to "seriously think of increasing their population in the country by producing more children".

Singh is the Bharatiya Janata Party's Lok Sabha member from Nawada in Bihar.