Early Times Report
Jammu, Mar 4: Jammu & Kashmir National Conference (JKNC) supremo Farooq Abdullah on Saturday said that Muhammad Ali Jinnah never wanted the partition of India to happen and there were other forces at play back then which led to the creation of Pakistan.
The former J&K Chief Minister also hit back at the critics of Congress president Rahul Gandhi after the party's humbling defeats in Nagaland and Tripura Assembly elections 2018. Abdullah was full of praise for the Congress leader and asked people to give him time to prove himself at the highest level.
Speaking to the media, Farooq Abdullah said, "Jinnah was not going to divide the country. The commission was delivered and the decision was taken that India would be divided. It said we will keep a special representation for Muslims.
We will keep special dispensation for minorities and Sikh, but will not let the nation divide."
"Jinnah agreed but Jawaharlal Nehru, Maulana Azad and Sardar Patel did not agree. When this did not happen it was then that Jinnah demanded for Pakistan. Or else there would have been no separation. There would have been no Bangladesh, no Pakistan; there would have been one India," added 80-year-old National Conference leader.
Elsewhere, the voter turnout during the Assembly elections in Tripura, Nagaland and Meghalaya was overwhelming but when the results came out, Congress did not just struggle to get the mandate of people but was completely shunned by them, except Meghalaya. After failing to secure a single seat in Tripura and Nagaland, Congress leadership came under heavy fire and was accused of lacking the spine to contest big electoral battles.
When asked about the miserable performance of Congress and whether Rahul Gandhi has failed as the president of the party, Farooq reiterated, "No I don't think he has failed. Give him time, he has just become President. It will take time for him to grow. It's not his defeat. Elections come & elections go. Any party has a chance of revival if it works for people." |
