Srinagar, May 2: National Conference president and former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Dr Farooq Abdullah on Saturday asserted that Kashmir belongs to all communities equally, and issued a sharp warning against any revival of the two-nation theory, which he said had no place in the region’s pluralistic ethos.
“Kashmir is not just Muslims. Kashmir is Hindu, Muslim, Sikh, everyone. That is what makes Kashmir,” Dr Abdullah told a gathering here.
Lamenting the erosion of the Valley’s traditional syncretic character, he said, “We have lost the biggest thing — they are going from this place. I just hope that one day we will have that Kashmir back.”
The NC president rejected the two-nation theory outright. “Remember, you are trying to succeed in the two-nation theory. Get rid of it. We have never believed in the two-nation theory. We are ready to believe in it till the day we die,” he said.
Dr Abdullah stressed that diversity remains India’s greatest strength, and warned against any attempts to undermine it. “If we do not project diversity and we do not hold diversity together, you will never make India great. Take it from me. I will give it in blood,” he said.
Invoking Mahatma Gandhi’s vision, he added, “It is unity and diversity. It is diversity we have to project. The only thing that India can survive with is when we all are together and we live together, we love each other together and we develop together.”
The former chief minister identified “mistrust” as the biggest tragedy facing the nation since Independence. “Since 1947, the mistrust that exists in Delhi and Kashmir, we have to end this mistrust. Until we do not end this mistrust, we will never move forward,” he cautioned.
Dr Abdullah said, “Farooq Abdullah does not hate anyone. Farooq Abdullah thinks that we all have to walk together. If we do not walk together, then destruction is for you as well as for us.”
He urged people to abandon “the path of lies” and walk “on the path of truth,” asserting that this alone could save not just Jammu and Kashmir but the whole of India.
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