Farooq Abdullah endorses blood on Cong's hands' remark

Srinagar: Former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister and president of opposition National Conference (NC), Dr. Farooq Abdullah, has welcomed Congress leader Salman Khurshid's assertion that his party's hands are stained “with the blood of Muslims” and said that introspection at a national level was important to initiate reconciliation between various communities in the country.

Mr Abdullah said injustices of the past needed to be acknowledged and cannot be repeated. “Muslims in India have contributed vastly and selflessly towards the progress and the integrity of the country but the past is replete with various instances where they have been at the receiving end of injustice, inequality and prejudice at the policy level,” he said in a statement on Wednesday.

The NC leader added that Mr Salman's statement is introspective and should be welcomed and that other political parties at the national level should also acknowledge the “injustices of the past” so that such mistakes are not repeated in the future. He also said that inclusivity, respect and dignity should form the cornerstones of a policy outreach towards Muslims in India as also other minorities. “A sense of dignity and inclusivity needs to be restored, especially in the face of divisive rhetoric and communal ploys as a result of which Muslims are faced with a new challenge of political and economic disempowerment,” he said.

Mr Abdullah added that at regular intervals various committees were formed to formally analyse the systemic socio-economic disempowerment of minorities in the country but despite credible and conclusive reports, no significant movement was made towards the path of affirmative action, redressal and closure in the context of various injustices of the past".

He said that similarly the national political leadership, cutting across political and partisan lines, should introspect about the injustices meted out in Jammu and Kashmir and accept the mistakes of the past.