This is not the India, we think of… India is of every religion — whether a Muslim, Christian, Hindu, Buddhist, Jain or Sikh… Everyone has equal rights: Farooq Abdullah
Web Report
SRINAGAR — Criticising lynching and killings of Muslims, former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister and National Conference (NC) leader Farooq Abdullah said that while India belongs to people of ‘every religion’, efforts are being made to ‘change’ it.
”Communalism is increasing. Today, Muslims are being killed in the rest of country in a manner that I can’t describe. These people have become rabid dogs. They think only they are right,” The Indian Express quoted Farooq Abdullah as saying.
Farooq Abdullah was speaking at a condolence meeting of National Conference legislator Saifullah Mir’s brother in Kupwara on Thursday.
“This is not the India, we think of… India is of every religion — whether a Muslim, Christian, Hindu, Buddhist, Jain or Sikh… Everyone has equal rights. Efforts are being made to change it. You should pray to God to save us from such forces,” he said.
He said there are “forces” who don’t want peace in the Valley. “The forces still exist, they don’t want peace here. They earn their livelihood from it, from our deaths,” he said. “These forces don’t want peace between India and Pakistan, they don’t want friendship between India and Pakistan. We are paying the price for this.”
“When the two countries are at loggerheads, the people in Jammu and Kashmir are the most affected. We are going through a tough phase and we are becoming the victims of the hostilities,” Farooq Abdullah said according to Greater Kashmir.