Agencies / Guwahati

BJP spokesperson and Assam Minorities Development Board chairperson Syed Muminul Aowal on Sunday sought to downplay the controversy, saying “there is no harm” if Muslims chant the religious slogan. “Ram Chandra is the epitome of the ideal king. Ramrajya is the ideal kingdom.

There is no harm in Muslims chanting Jai Shri Ram. No one should prevent a Muslim from chanting Jai Shri Ram,” Aowal said at a BJP minority morcha meeting here. The statement is on the same lines as the one made by Union minority affairs minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi recently. “You should not force anyone to do anything. But you can’t refuse to sing Vande Mataram. There should be no rigidity on either side,” he had said.