Other States - Jammu & Kashmir

PM spreading hatred: Azad

By Shujaat Bukhari

SRINAGAR APRil 13. The AICC general secretary and recently appointed president of Jammu & Kashmir Pradesh Congress Committee, Ghulam Nabi Azad, today demanded that the Prime Minister, Atal Behari Vajpayee, should be arrested under the Prevention of Terrorism Act as "he is involved in spreading communal hatred which could lead to nation's disintegration''.

On his maiden visit to Srinagar after taking over as the PCC chief, Mr Azad, said at a public meeting: " India is facing a more serious threat from the Bhartiya Janta Party than any outside force and the Prime Minister is leading that''. Reacting to Mr. Vajpayee's statement about Islam and Christianity in Gao, Mr. Azad said he was ashamed that Mr. Vajpayee was the Prime Minister of the country which had strong "secular traditions''.

"Our former Prime Ministers have always worked towards the unity of country and strengthening the secularism which forms the basis of India being a strong country envied all over globe. Till recently there was an impression that Mr. Vajpayee is the secular face of the BJP and the Home Minister, L.K. Advani, represents the communal class of party, but now the myth is gone, both the faces are same, he alleged.

Decrying Mr. Vajpayee's statement that "Islam and Christianity posed a threat to the nation and world," Mr. Azad said "Islam does not preach hatred but love. If that had been the case the Muslim rulers could have transformed India into a Muslim nation at the point of sword or gun. But look the Mughal emperor Akbar who preached another religion Din-i-Ilahi which was the most liberal form''. There are 20 crore Muslims living in India and we have five Christian Chief Ministers,'' he said. Mr. Azad said what 100 Musharraf's could not do to disintegrate the country, the statement of Prime Minister could. "After listening to him, I came to the conclusion that we are sitting on a powderkeg. If this is the thinking of our PM, what direction we can have'' he said.

Lauding the role of the people of Kashmir and Jammu in maintaining communal harmony, Mr. Azad said that time had come to fight against the menace. He said the people of the State had suffered a lot from both militants and the security forces. The third form of repression came from the National Conference Government which had not been able to help the people to come out of their problems. "You Congress workers have kept the flag of the nation fluttering in Kashmir and you deserve the best'' he said adding that "instead the Government is adding to the miseries by snapping STD/ISD and Internet facilities''.

It was a rare show of unity at the PCC headquarters today after several years. Leaders of both factions attended the welcome meeting for Mr. Azad and these included the former PCC presidents, Ghulam Rasool Kar and Chowdary Aslam, besides Peerzada Mohammad Saeed, G.M. Rajpuri, Taj Mohiuddin and Abdul Gani Vakil. However, the outgoing president, Mohammad Shafi Qureshi, was absent.

Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Other States

News: Front Page | National | Southern States | Other States | International | Opinion | Business | Sport | Miscellaneous |
Advts: Classifieds | Employment | Obituary |

Stories in this Section

• PM spreading hatred: Azad

Copyright © 2002, The Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu