‘Our religion does not tell us to look down on other religions’: Farooq – Kashmir Reader

Srinagar: National Conference President Farooq Abdullah on Tuesday launched a vicious attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi over his ‘mangalsutra’ comments and said, “Our religion does not tell us to look down on other religions” and added that a Muslim can never take away the mangalsutra from Hindu women.
The former Prime Minister of Jammu and Kashmir said, “It is unfortunate that our Prime Minister said such a thing.”
“Our religion Islam tells us to treat everyone equally. Our religion does not say that we should look down on other religions. It tells us that we should respect other religions as we respect our own faith,” Abdullah told reporters here.
“It will never happen that a Muslim takes away the mangalsutra from a (Hindu) mother or sister. (If anyone does that), he is not a Muslim. He then does not understand Islam,” he added.
Speaking at a rally in Banswara in Rajasthan on Sunday, Modi claimed, “The Congress manifesto says they will calculate the gold with mothers and sisters and then divide that asset. They will distribute it to whom. The Manmohan Singh government had said that Muslims have the first right to the property of the country.”
Abdullah said Islam does not preach disrespect to any religion.
“Islam teaches me that if you kill one person, mind you, you have killed humanity. I am also a Muslim and the Quran does not teach me to hate Hindus. I love Hindus as much as I love Sikhs and Muslims. I feel that when they will progress, we will also progress and this nation will also progress,” he added.
About the BJP’s agenda of ‘One Nation, One Election’, Abdullah said it was not possible to hold one election for the entire country as each of the 28 states was different.
“How can this be possible in 28 states that are so different? Second, they say they want to change the constitution. They want just one election and then install their prime minister, like (Russian President Vladimir) Putin, who will remain in office until he is alive,” Abdullah said.
‘Otherwise, tell me why they’re worried about 2047. Will they be around until 2047? They have planned it that they do not want elections, they want to occupy power and do what they want,” he added.
The National Conference President questioned the law that removed the Chief Justice of India from the Election Commission Selection Committee.
“The selection panel of the Election Commission consisted of the Chief Justice, a representative of the Government of India and the Leader of the Opposition. What was the need to remove the CJI? There are two government representatives. What will the sole opposition representative do?” he asked.
Asked about the assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir, Abdullah said he does not know when the elections will take place.
“We don’t know if the parliamentary elections will take place and when they will take place. It is the Supreme Court that has said that elections must be held. Who knows, if they win, they could also submit to the Supreme Court,” he added.
Regarding the alliance between the People’s Conference led by Sajad Gani Lone and the Apni Party led by Altaf Bukhari, Abdullah appealed to them to consider the BJP’s attitude towards Muslims before extending tacit support to the right-wing party.
“I want to appeal to all three – Ghulam Nabi Azad, Sajad Lone and Altaf Bukahri – that they should see the attitude towards Muslims of those (BJP) they are standing here for. That’s all I want to tell them. Will the Muslims they fool today survive tomorrow?” he asked. (agencies)

Related

Related Posts