‘Muslims are Indians, not Aurangzeb’s children’: Union minister Ramdas Athawale slams right-wing outfits over Bakrid unrest | Mumbai News
3 min readMumbaiMay 28, 2026 02:01 PM IST
Union minister Ramdas Athawale strongly admonished the BJP and right-wing outfits Thursday for their aggressive campaign against goat sacrifice in public places.
Athawale, the president of the Republican Party of India (A), a ruling alliance partner at both the Centre and in Maharashtra, urged the BJP and its affiliates to exercise restraint and patience. He observed that the practice of animal sacrifice, which is an integral ritual of Bakrid, should be respected.
“The Indian Constitution has given everybody the right and freedom to worship,” said Athawale, Minister of State for Social Justice and Empowerment. “Therefore, it is inappropriate to thrust decisions on people.”
His remarks came in the wake of rising confrontations over qurbani (sacrifice) in several areas across Mumbai’s western suburbs, including Mira Road, Ghatkopar, and Goregaon.
Making his disappointment public, Athawale emphasised the need for unity and said, “The Constitution has given every religion its individual rights. Therefore, nobody should indulge in provocation or disrespect the Constitution. Instead, we should learn to respect each other and maintain social harmony.”
“Before the Mughal invasion of India, all citizens were Hindus. They were later converted. The Muslims living in India today are not Aurangzeb’s children; they are our own Indian people,” he asserted, adding that discrimination based on religion or community directly contradicts the spirit of the Constitution.
The minister warned that any attempt to create communal tension in the name of religious practices would not be tolerated. He stressed that regardless of whether those creating tension belong to the BJP or any other outfit, no one has the right to hurt others’ religious sentiments or flout constitutional mandates.
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Referring specifically to the recent unrest in Mira Road, Athawale advised the state administration to take stringent measures to ensure peace and communal harmony.
To defuse the escalating conflict in Mira Road, local authorities recently had to relocate sacrificial goats from residential housing societies to designated sheds allocated by the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC).
Earlier this week, Mumbai Mayor Ritu Tawde, along with several corporators, urged the government to impose a blanket ban on goat sacrifices within housing societies. BJP MLA Madhuri Misal wrote to the police commissioner and the director general of police, requesting that animal sacrifices in housing societies and public places be halted immediately.
