Former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti said on Sunday that when minorities in India were also facing the onslaught like Hindus were doing in Bangladesh, then what was the difference between the two countries.
“Our Hindu brothers are facing oppression in Bangladesh but if we do the same thing with minorities here (in India), then what is the difference? We have such a great country, known worldwide for its secular character,” she said.
Mehbooba said it was former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi who helped Bangladesh to achieve independence.
She urged the secular Hindus in the country to stand up against polarization, and join a united fight against the forces trying to divide the people on religious lines, warning against a repeat of the 1947-like riots.
“The situation in the country is not good. Leaders like Mahatma Gandhi, Pandit Jawahar Lal Nehru, Maulana Abdul Kalam Azad, Sardar (Vallabhbhai) Patel, (B R) Ambedkar made this country home for Hindus, Muslims, Sikhs and Christians. Gandhi even sacrificed his life for it,” she said.
“However, people are being pitted against each other (on the basis of religion) and I am afraid we are being pushed towards the 1947-like situation,” Mehbooba, president of People’s Democratic Party said.
Attacking the BJP, she said the government has failed to provide jobs, education, good hospitals and roads to the people and is diverting the attention of the people by targeting mosques on the pretext of finding temples beneath.
“This is exactly what is happening in the country. Four innocent youth were recently killed in Sambhal (UP) but who will speak for them,” Mehbooba said. “Anyone doing so will be put in jail like Umar Khalid who is behind the bars for the last four years. In the prevailing conditions, there is no one to listen.”
The PDP leader referred to a petition claiming that the Ajmer Sharif Dargah was built over a Shiva temple and said people of different faiths including Hindus and Sikhs visit the 800-year-old shrine which is a glaring example of ‘Ganga-Jamuni’ culture.
“They also want to dig up this shrine in search of a temple… For how long will this continue?” she said.
She also referred to the recent assembly results in the country and said “there is something wrong somewhere.”
“One state was left deliberately so that the opposition cannot talk (about the fraud) and there is no doubt about it. Election commission is silent on the sharp rise in the poll percentage after the end of voting”, she said.
The voting stops at 6 pm and we have 58 percent polling, which increases to 68 percent within the next three hours and becomes 70 percent before the start of counting, Mehbooba said.
