Sheila govt has done nothing for Muslims: Goel

Ahead of Delhi assembly polls, several Muslims, including cartoonist Haneef Azhar, along with former MLA Karan Yadav and members of Poorvanchal Gan Parishad today joined BJP, which said the Sheila Dikshit government has done nothing for the community in the last 15 years.
Welcoming them into party-fold, Delhi BJP chief Vijay Goel in a function here said, "Sheila Dikshit led Congress government in Delhi has done nothing for Muslims during the last 15 years except paying the lip service."
Goel said that according to NSSO data, Muslims face high levels of poverty in Delhi.
According to the data, 31 per cent Muslims live below poverty line in Delhi and only 23.7 per cent are in government jobs while 6.5 per cent are in private jobs in Delhi, he said.

"Urdu is the second official language of Delhi but still, no state government Department has an Urdu translator. Urdu medium schools in Delhi have a total of 90 seats out of which only 32 are filled. The rest 52 are lying vacant. Not a single Urdu medium school has been established since 1998," he said.
Goel accused the government of allowing and at times indulging in encroachment of the Wakf Properties.

"Out of 685 encroached Wakf properties in Delhi, 158 are encroached by ASI, 373 have been encroached by the public while 114 by the Delhi Development Authority (DDA). 26 other Wakf properties are held by different government agencies. If the Wakf Board is managed well it can generate sufficient funds to fulfil development needs of the community," he said.

According to the 1970 gazette notification, 488 Muslim graveyards existed in Delhi. However, as of now, there are only 25-30 graveyards that are actually operational. There is scarcity of burial ground for the community, claimed Goel.
"The Muslims can see through the double-speak of Congress. There is a growing support among Muslims for BJP's agenda of Corruption-Free Development in Delhi," he said.
Taking a dig at Arvind Kejriwal's Aam Aadmi Party without naming it, Goel said that can these people name even one seat from where they are going to win.
"They are sticking posters everywhere saying that we are honest. Who is honest and who is not will be decided by the voters," he said.