Farooq Abdullah hits back at Modi’s mangalsutra comments, saying: ‘Our religion does not say we should look down on other religions’

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 the mangalsutra away 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 that we should treat everyone equally. Our religion does not say that we should look down on other religions. It tells us that we must respect other religions just as we respect our own,” Abdullah told reporters.

“It will never happen that a Muslim takes away the mangalsutra from a (Hindu) mother or sister. (If someone does), he is not a Muslim. Then he doesn’t understand Islam,” he added.

Addressing a Lok Sabha meeting 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 did that. the first right to the possessions 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 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 it 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 continue in office.” 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 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 representative of the opposition 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 might 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 – they must see the attitude towards Muslims of those (BJP) before whom they stand here. That’s all I want to tell them. The Muslims they are trying to fool today, will they survive tomorrow?” he asked.