July 28, 2018
Senior Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP) leader Muzaffar Hussain Baig has triggered a controversy with his statements that India may again head towards a partition if lynchings of Muslims based on allegations of cow-smuggling are not stopped immediately.
Speaking at an event on Saturday, the Lok Sabha MP from Baramulla (Jammu and Kashmir) said, “I want to tell Prime Minister Narendra Modi that he should put an end to the killing of Muslims in the name of cow slaughter. This country has once been partitioned into two, and there can be more partitions if killings of Muslims are not stopped immediately.”
Until last month, the PDP had an alliance with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and was in power in Jammu and Kashmir.
He said the PDP had allied with the BJP not for power but to ensure that justice was done to Muslims across the country and to the Kashmiri people.
“We allied with the BJP so that they can trust Muslims. We allied with the BJP so that justice is done to Muslims and Kashmiris and talks with Pakistan can take place,” he added.
Responding to his comments, BJP national spokesperson Nalin Kholi said in 1947, Pakistan was created because there were those who wanted the country to run based on religion.
“If today someone wants to do so, he must realize that Pakistan still exists. He can go there and live,” he said.
Meanwhile, senior Congress leader and Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Gulam Nabi Azad asked Baig was he and his party silent on cases of mob lynching and worsening ties with Pakistan during the PDP-BJP rule in Jammu and Kashmir.
“When you were in power, did you not see things? You remained silent then, Bow that the BJP has separated from you, you are blaming each other,” Azad said.
On the other hand, speaking to India Today TV, Baig said he used the term “division” and not “partition”. “Unlike Partition (of 1947) which was geographical, this division will be emotional (between Hindus and Muslims),” he said.
Baig said he did not make any irresponsible comment and that he will not retract his comments. (However, in contrast to Baig’s claims, the video of his speech does not mention the word “division”.)
“I will repeat myself now, and more emphatically. If the killings of innocent Muslims are not stopped, there will be a cleavage between Hindus and Muslims which will be difficult to bridge.
Source : India Today
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