Minorities face similar plight in India, Bangladesh: Mehbooba

PDP supremo Mehbooba Mufti on Sunday likened the “oppression” of Hindus in Bangladesh to the condition of minorities in India, as she objected to the recent surveys of mosques.

Mehbooba also asserted that the majority of Hindus in the country were secular and called for a united fight against the forces trying to divide people on religious lines, as she warned against a repeat of 1947-like riots.

“As we have heard, our Hindu brothers are facing oppression in Bangladesh but if we do the same thing with minorities here (in India), then what is the difference? We have such a great country, known by the world over for its secular character,” she said at a gathering of party workers.

“Here (in India), we harass the minorities and demolish their mosques in search of ‘shivlings’. If any Hindu raises their voice (against atrocities) in Bangladesh, he is jailed and people like Umar Khalid are put behind bars here. What is the difference? I don’t see any difference,” she said.

She said the situation in the country was not good. “Leaders like Mahatma Gandhi, Pandit Jawahar Lal Nehru, Maulana Abdul Kalam Azad, Sardar (Vallabhbhai) Patel, (BR) Ambedkar made this country a home for Hindus, Muslims, Sikhs and Christians. Gandhi even sacrificed his life for it,” Mehbooba Mufti said.

However, she said people were being pitted against each other on the basis of religion. “I am afraid we are being pushed towards a 1947-like situation,” the former chief minister of the erstwhile Jammu and Kashmir state said.

Attacking the BJP, she said the Centre had failed to provide jobs, education, good hospitals and roads to the people and was diverting people's attention by targeting mosques on the pretext of finding temples beneath them. “This is exactly what is happening in the country. Four innocent youngsters were recently killed in Sambhal (Uttar Pradesh) but who will speak for them? Anyone doing so will be put in jail like Umar Khalid, who is behind the bars for the past four years. In the prevailing conditions, there is no one to listen,” Mehbooba Mufti said.

The PDP leader referred to a petition claiming that the Ajmer Sharif dargah was built over a Shiva temple and said people of different faiths, including Hindus and Sikhs, visited the 800-year-old shrine -- a glaring example of "Ganga-Jamuni" culture.

“They also want to dig up this shrine in search of a temple... For how long will this continue?” she asked.

The PDP president said people needed to stand up to counter this, otherwise “what is the difference between Bangladesh and our country?” “The majority of Hindus in our country are secular. We have to stand up to counter this emerging situation as we have to live together and there is no other way,” she said.