India: Low Muslim turnout in Rampur by-poll due to abuse, harassment 

“The right to vote for Muslims should be ended if members of the community are not allowed to exercise this right,” veteran Samajwadi Party leader Azam Khan said. 

Commenting on the low voter turnout in the Rampur by-poll, Khan confirmed harassment of Muslim voters and said he favored ending voting rights for Muslims if they were not allowed to exercise that right.

Khan said: “When people are beaten with sticks, abuses are hurled at them, their beards pulled, will you go to vote in such a scenario? Amar Ujala (a Hindi newspaper) wrote about how Muslims were being hit and women made to run away. When people in your area get to know what is happening (your experience), they won’t go to vote either.”

 “So I am in favor of ending voting rights for Muslims, because they are not being allowed to vote, because their vote can help change the government. They are being harassed as their vote can bring a political change,” Khan said.

Khan said that he wants three rights for Muslims — right to life, right to religion and right to education. “These three rights should be granted by the Parliament via a law,” he said.