Kashmir’s politicians sing Pakistan’s songs when out of power: BJP
Srinagar: Former chief minister Mehbooba Mufti on Sunday praised Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan for taking steps to name a forest reserve after Guru Nanak Dev, drawing sharp reaction from the BJP’s Jitendra Singh who is in the PMO.
The former chief minister also hit out at the BJP-led Centre saying its “top priority” seems to be renaming ancient cities and building Ram temple in Ayodhya.
“How times change. Centre’s top priority is seemingly renaming historic cities & building Ram Mandir. On the other hand , heartening to see that Pak PM has initiated steps to name Baloki forest reserve after Guru Nanak ji & create a university under his name,” the former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister tweeted.
The PDP chief was reacting to Imran Khan’s announcement that he was taking steps to name the wild life reserve after Guru Nanak Dev, the founder of Sikhism.
“The Baloki Forest Reserve and a new University in Nankana Sahib will be established and named after Baba Guru Nanak. Pakistan belongs to all citizens equally and we will ensure a big event for Sikh pilgrims on 550th anniversary of Guru Nanak,” Khan said at a function.
Speaking with reporters in Handwara, Mehbooba Mufti said while Pakistan is making laws to safeguard minorities in their country, Indian Muslims are feeling insecure because of the rabid Hindutva politics which she said is damaging India’s secular fabric.
Speaking with reporters at Harnipora Shehlal in Handwara, the PDP chief said the atmosphere in India is becoming polarized because of rabid Hindutva politics on the back of which all the political parties want to fetch votes.
“This kind of politics has a direct bearing in the Muslim majority state of Jammu and Kashmir. Everyday there is politics about constructing Ram temple, renaming towns with Muslim names and other related incidents that worries the Muslims across especially in Kashmir,” she said.
“After these anti-Muslim and anti-minority tactics, Muslims, especially in Kashmir, are accused of radicalization which actually is not a case at all. India was created in the name of secularism while Pakistan was created in the name of religion. But today the opposite is happening. Pakistan is framing new laws to protect the holy places of minorities, while in India the Muslims are feeling threatened by the divisive Hindutva politics,” she said.
Hitting back at Mehbooba, Union Minister Jitendra Singh on Sunday said mainstream politicians of Kashmir “sing the song of Pakistan” when they are out of power, but swear by India when in power.
Taking to Twitter, Singh, who is the Minister of State (MoS) in the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO), attacked Mehbooba for praising Imran Khan while criticising the governance of Prime Minister Narendra Modi in India.
“Indeed, how times change! Kashmir mainstream politicians sing the song of Pakistan when they are out of power, but swear by India when in power. Remember, #Farooqabdullah, as CM, frequently advocated the bombing of terror camps in Pak occupied Kashmir,” Singh tweeted.
