Oct 18, 2007, 15:37 GMT
New Delhi, Oct 18 (IANS) Muslims in Gujarat do not face any discrimination and lead a comfortable life, says a film produced by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) ahead of the assembly elections.
The campaign film has plenty of Muslims telling the producers that they are happy under Chief Minister Narendra Modi.
Amina Sheikh, a resident of Ahmedabad, says: 'Gujarat is very safe, we go out comfortably at night without being harassed by anyone.'
Another woman, Naseem Husain, says: 'All this talk about discrimination (against Muslims) is not correct. Hindus and Muslims are living peacefully here. No one bothers us.'
A third woman, clad in burqa, parrots the view.
The viewers are introduced to the subject with a shot of Muslims praying at Jami Masjid in Ahmedabad, one of the cities worst hit by the 2002 communal violence.
In another shot, some people wearing Muslim skullcaps say that there is no such thing as Muslim harassment.
A shopkeeper adds: 'I have more Hindu than Muslim clients visiting my shop every day.'
The camera moves on to a village said to be Muslim-dominated. A villager, Rafiq Ali, says: 'We have a gobar gas plant here. We have a mineral water plant, we have all modern facilities.'
Says another Muslim in another village, Shabbir Bhai: 'Ours is a very prosperous village. We have 70-80 mobiles and 70-80 cars owned by villagers.'The 30-minute film released here this week has prominent BJP leaders, including L.K. Advani and Arun Shourie, praising Modi.
© 2007 Indo-Asian News Service
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