India Not Dependent on Anyone's Mercy, Says BJP Leader Singh
Gonda, October 25: BJP leader and former MP Brijbhushan Sharan Singh has criticised Farooq Abdullah's statement on Kashmir, calling it wrong. He declared that Jammu and Kashmir is and will remain an inseparable part of India. He also insisted that the nation does not rely on the goodwill of others.
Singh said Farooq Abdullah is a respected senior politician, yet his inclination towards Pakistan appears at times. He said India is a robust, ancient civilisation and not a country dependent on anyone's sympathy. He also argued that India's history cannot be measured only by the last 50 or 100 years.
According to Singh, both Jammu and Kashmir and the part of Kashmir under Pakistani control belong to India and will always do so. He conceded that the present situation looks different. But he attributed its origin to choices made during the period of former Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru. Had a different decision been made then, he said, the country's map and geography would look different now.
He added that Parliament, the central government, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah, along with all other governments, accept Jammu and Kashmir as an integral part of India.
Abdullah, a former chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir and president of the National Conference, had spoken at a party workers' convention in Baramulla in north Kashmir. He had claimed that Pakistan was raising the Kashmir issue at international forums to voice the people's concerns and protect them.
Reacting to the Jamia poster row, Singh warned that anti-national forces were attempting to gain ground. He said citizens must identify who such forces align with. He also said that during the Supreme Court march, people had seen who stood next to whom.
On the question of politics that divides people, Singh said such politics cannot last long in a diverse country like India. He pointed out that many religions and thousands of castes coexist in the nation. He said everyone must be carried along. He concluded that India's strength lies in its diversity and unity, and that only politics inclusive of all classes, castes and religions can succeed over time. Those who try to divide people, he said, will not ultimately prevail.