Agencies
In a statement which may once again open the contentious debate over the Partition of India, National Conference chief and former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Farooq Abdullah on Saturday claimed that it was Jawaharlal Nehru, Sardar Patel and Maulana Abdul Kalam Azad who were responsible for the Partition of India and not Muhammad Ali Jinnah, the founder of Pakistan.
Speaking at a function at Sher-e-Kashmir Bhavan in Jammu, Abdullah said that it was the refusal of the three Congress leaders to accept minority status for the Muslims which led to the Partition of India.
Abdullah added that Jinnah did not want Pakistan in the first place. But Congress' refusal to a special representation for Muslims and Sikhs, Abdullah believed, forced Jinnah to seek a separate nation for Muslims.
"Or else there would have been no separation. There would have been no Bangladesh, no Pakistan; there would have been one India," ANI quoted Abdullah as saying.
Abdullah also expressed grave concern over the "communalisation of politics" ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, and cautioned BJP to desist from "dividing the nation on religious lines".
“A polarised India is detrimental to its growth, progress, unity, and peace,” he said.
The former chief minister decried the misuse of religion for political and electoral gains. Cautioning the audience about divisive forces in the state, Abdullah said that Jammu and Kashmir has to flourish and progress as a single entity. |
