National Conference president Farooq Abdullah has said that partition of India was a “historical mistake” and that Indian Muslims are suffering repercussions due to it.
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh had said that the 1971 Indo-Pak war was a reminder that India’s partition on religious lines was an “aitihasik galti” (historic mistake), and now Farooq Abdullah has seemingly backed this view.
Farooq Abdullah remarked, “I think that mistake also happened because Muhammad Ali Jinnah wanted that 39% reservation (for Muslims) should be given instead of 26%. At that time, Congress did not agree to this. But they understood that we cannot stay together. Sir Iqbal convinced him that demanding Pakistan is necessary. I myself feel that the division of India was very wrong. To be divided into so many parts- Bangladesh, India and Pakistan was a very big historical mistake.”
“Not just Kashmiris, all Indian Muslims have to suffer the repercussions of this. It is before you. If the nation was one, we would have had the strength and these difficulties wouldn’t be there. Brotherhood would have prevailed. Religious problems increase due to the rift between India and Pakistan,” he elaborated.