New Delhi: The Finance Minister in the Government of India, Nirmala Sitharaman, while giving a befitting reply to those showing a negative image of India in the world, said that the second largest population in India is made up of Muslims. Since 1947, the population of Muslims in the country has increased continuously. On the other hand, all kinds of minorities are being destroyed in Pakistan. He also claimed that Muslims in India are leading a normal life and making steady progress. Nirmala has asked people raising questions whether the Muslim population has reduced in India since 2014?

Responding to Peterson Institute for International Economics (PIIE) President Adam S. Posen on assumptions affecting investments or capital flows into India, Finance Minister Sitharaman said listen to the assumptions being made by people who are not even on the ground, have gone, and who present the report. He has said, 'I think the answer lies with the investors who are coming to India, and they have been coming. And as someone who is interested in getting investment, I would just say, Come and see what's happening in India.

Rejecting the notion of violence against Muslims in India, Union Finance Minister Sitharaman said, 'India has the second largest Muslim population in the world. If any violence assumption against Muslims is true, then is this population just increasing in numbers. If indeed so, has the nation made their lives difficult, which is what most of these articles write about? I would like to ask that, if so, is the Muslim population in India increasing as compared to 1947?

Finance Minister Sitharaman further said that the condition of minorities in Pakistan is getting worse day by day and that their population is decreasing day by day. Minorities in Pakistan are given the death sentence even on minor charges. Blasphemy laws are, in most cases, used to satisfy personal vendettas. Victims are immediately presumed guilty, even without a proper investigation and trial before a jury.

Sitharaman said, 'As a protest, some people say, why do I name a country (Pakistan)? So the answer is that, at the time of independence, both India and Pakistan became separate countries. Pakistan declared itself an Islamic country. But still, he said that the minorities would be protected. But today, the situation is such that the numbers of every minority are dwindling; even some Muslim sects have died out.' Let us tell you that the Muslim community that Sitharaman is talking about ending here is the Ahmadiyya Muslims, who are not considered by most of the fundamentalist Muslims of Pakistan and whose graves are on their mosques, even on the graves of Ahmadis.

Sitharaman said that, comparing the Muslims of Pakistan with those of India, the Muslims in India are doing much better. He said, 'Violence is being perpetrated against Muhajirs, Shias, and every other group. They are not accepted in the mainstream. I don't know, Sunnis maybe. Whereas in India, you will find that every section of Muslims is minding their own business. Their children are getting educated. Fellowships are being provided to them by the government.

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