Jabalpur: RSS-linked Muslim Rashtriya Manch (MRM) on Sunday rejected Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind (JUH) president Maulana Mahmood Madani’s claim that the minority community in India feels insecure, saying “separatist-minded clerics” like him are hindering the progress of Muslims. The MRM’s national convener, SK Muddin, said in a statement that Muslims enjoy full constitutional rights and security in the country. Madani claimed on Saturday that efforts are being made in the country to establish the supremacy of one group through actions such as bulldozer action, mob lynching, weakening of the Muslim Waqf and Islamic reforms. He also claimed that the perception that courts were working under government pressure had grown after the Babri Masjid judgment and many other decisions. Reacting to the comments, Muddin, the former chairman of the MP Madarsa Council, said that Muslims are “the safest” in India compared to any other country and described the country as “riot-free” today. Prohibitory orders are now rarely imposed, while before 2014 newspapers and television channels carried daily reports of riots, he claimed. Muddin said that Madani failed to recognize that Muslim sons and daughters are serving the country in the armed forces, security agencies and other key institutions. The JUH chief also said, “It must be said with regret that organized efforts are being made to establish the supremacy of a particular group and to shame, defame and disenfranchise other groups legally helpless, socially isolated and economically.” Muddin said statements made by leaders like Madani had pushed Muslims back in the race for progress since independence. He said “Vande Mataram” is the national anthem and its recitation is not against Islam as it salutes the motherland. To praise one’s land, he said, was part of a Muslim’s faith. Ordinary Muslims worked hard for two meals a day and to raise their families peacefully, Muddin said, alleging that clerics like Madani want to mislead them and drive them towards unrest. He further appealed to Muslim intellectuals to remain vigilant against such “separatist-minded clerics” and oppose them openly. Meanwhile, in Bhopal, right-wing organisations, including the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP), staged a protest and burnt Madani’s effigy at Roshanpura Square, accusing him of speaking ill of the country and the Supreme Court.