The Bharatiya Janata Party on Wednesday accused Prime Minister Manmohan Singh of degrading Muslims.
"By calling them (Muslims) backward time and again, the prime minister, in fact, is degrading the community," senior BJP leader Vijay Kumar Malhotra told reporters.
He said his party believed that the ruling United Progressive Alliance should focus its attention on all groups living in poverty.
The BJP leader's comments came in the wake of Singh's address to a Dalit-minority conference in which he said his government was committed to removing inequities and imbalances faced by the Muslim community.
"This is nothing but communalism if you keep speaking about a single community. Rather, attention should be given to all those who live below poverty line, irrespective of what religion or caste they belong to," Malhotra said.
He cited Buddhists as example, saying the community's economic condition in the country was also bad.
The BJP also expressed reservations over the prime minister's remarks that Jains and Sikhs have done relatively well in the process of social and economic development.
"When he says Jains and Sikhs have done better, then we would like to know from him what his government has contributed toward their development," BJP spokesman Prakash Javadekar said.
