Farooq: PM should take lead, help retain secular fabric

Tribune News Service

Jammu, December 11

National Conference president Farooq Abdullah today condemned the exploitation of religious sentiments for political and electoral gains, saying that Prime Minister Narendra Modi should take the lead in ending this malady for retaining the secular fabric of the country.

“The country of Mahatma Gandhi cannot afford to get fragmented into bits and pieces on the basis of religion to satiate the agendas of a few political outfits,” Farooq said while addressing the NC’s OBC Cell functionaries at Sher-e-Kashmir Bhavan here this afternoon. He said nothing better could be expected from the reactionary forces who were taking pride in decorating the killer of the Father of the Nation.

The NC chief expressed concern over vitiating the ongoing Gujarat elections on religious basis and described it as the saddest development in Indian polity. He hoped that the Prime Minister would appreciate the danger of communal polarisation, adding that the nation should also introspect over the sordid state of political affairs.

“Narendra Modi is the Prime Minister of all, irrespective of religious or regional affiliations, and this fact should neither be ignored nor undermined,” Farooq said, hoping that he (Modi) will not allow himself to get swayed by petty politics.

He advised the BJP and the RSS to refrain from flaming passions and exploiting public sentiment, especially during the elections. He said the growing trend of dividing the nation on religious lines was detrimental to national interest and such a tendency should be eschewed at all costs.

Farooq lamented that attempts were being made to provoke people to fight over mandir and masjid issues just in furtherance of political objectives.