Amid the ‘intolerance’ debate, PDP leader Mehbooba Mufti, a constituent of ruling NDA, on Friday lashed out at those saying “go to Pakistan”, asserting that the “nation owns us and we own the nation”.
At the same time, she underlined that there is tolerance in India and compared the situation to countries like Pakistan and Syria where Muslims are killed but “one cannot even open the mouth”. “To those who ask (Muslims) to go to Pakistan, I want to say that the nation owns us and we own the nation,” she said in the Lok Sabha while participating in the debate on the Constitution. Her comments assume significance over the attacks on actors Aamir Khan and Shah Rukh Khan for their opinion on intolerance.
Mufti said there is tolerance in India and the scientists, authors and historians returning the awards in protest is the biggest proof of this. “Indian Muslims follow the real Islam. This is also because the Hindu majority (community) is very tolerant. Babasaheb must have taken tolerance from Hinduism. The way Hinduism has the tolerance, perhaps no one has it. The historians, authors and scienitists have been protesting and returning their awards. The way they came out in protest keeps the nation alive.
“In Pakistan or Syria even if Muslim is killed one cannot open their mouth,” she said. Referring to the Dadri incident where a Musim man was lynched over rumours of eating beef, she said that in incidents like this and also in the past communal violence like the ones in Meerut, Bhagalpur and Gujarat riots, it was the system that failed, but the people kept the spirit alive.
Lauding Ambedkar for his contribution in making the Constitution, she said unlike the present day politicians who think about next election, he thought about future generations while drafting the constitution.
PTI