Former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti on Sunday asked how India was different from Bangladesh, saying that religious minorities in both the countries are facing persecution, The Indian Express reported.
“We are hearing that the situation in Bangladesh is very bad and our Hindu brothers are facing persecution there,” said the Peoples Democratic Party chief in Jammu. “Here we are persecuting the minorities. So what is the difference?”
Mufti added: “We have such a big country, a secular country that is being recognised throughout the world. But what is the difference between Bangladesh and us if in our country, minorities face persecution and mosques are demolished to find the Shiva Linga?”
The former chief minister said that while the alleged persecution of Hindus in Bangladesh was being talked about, “where they are being sent to jail”, the situation was not different in India where “Umar Khalid is in jail”.
Mufti was referring to the arrest of three Hindu leaders in Bangladesh under charges of sedition.
Khalid, an activist and former Jawaharlal Nehru University student, has been in jail since September 2020 in the Delhi riots case. He has been charged with criminal conspiracy, rioting and unlawful assembly, among other offences under the Indian Penal Code and the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act.
Mufti said that she had no doubt that the majority of the Hindus in India are secular and asked them to “wake up”, asserting that the country belongs to all religious communities.
She said that the youth were not getting good education, jobs and better healthcare.
“…You can’t repair our roads, streets and lanes,” she added. “So what do you do? You demolish the mosques and search for the temples [beneath them]”.
Mufti said that the Ajmer Sharif dargah was the biggest symbol of brotherhood, which is visited by people from all faiths.
“If you want to look for a symbol of our Ganga-Jamuni culture, go and see it at Ajmeer Sharief,” Mufti said. “See how our Hindu mothers, sisters and daughters bow their heads. There is no bigger example [of brotherhood] than it. Now, you are after it, digging it and searching for a temple beneath it. I am unable to understand how long will it work?”
A Rajasthan court on Wednesday admitted a petition claiming that the shrine of 13th-century Sufi saint Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti in Ajmer was built over a Shiva temple.
The suit filed by Hindu Sena chief Vishnu Gupta seeks directions that the Ajmer Sharif Dargah be declared as Bhagwan Shri Sankatmochan Mahadev Virajman temple.
The court order came days after a trial court in Uttar Pradesh’s Sambhal on November 19 allowed an application asking for Hindus to be given access to and survey the town’s Shahi Jama Masjid.
The petitioners claim that the mosque was built in 1526 by Mughal ruler Babar on the site of the “centuries old Shri Hari Har Temple dedicated to Lord Kalki”.
On November 24, five persons were killed in violence during protests against the survey of the mosque.
The Bharatiya Janata Party has objected to Mufti’s comment, and sought action against her.
The Jammu and Kashmir government must take note of her “anti-national statement” and “conspiracies”, BJP’s former state chief Ravinder Raina told PTI.
Sunil Sharma, the Leader of Opposition in Jammu and Kashmir, said that the remarks by Mufti were an attempt to revive her party after losing the recent Assembly elections.
“The PDP is completely finished and Mehbooba is making such statements to provoke Muslims in an attempt to re-establish her party,” Sharma told PTI. “She is trying to mislead the people by such types of statements, knowing fully that Muslims in the country, especially in J&K are safe.”
He added that there was no comparison between the situation in Bangladesh and India.
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