“We are proud of Islam, we are proud of Hinduism as well. India is India only due to the homogeneity of the two religions,” said former union minister and veteran lawyer Salman Khurshid here on Saturday.
Rubbishing the recent controversy stoked on whether to speak “Vande Mataram” (Mother, I salute thee!) or not, he further said that “Vande Mataram” is what the Indian soldiers utter while paying supreme sacrifice to the nation, irrespective of their religious affiliations.
Asking former MP and ex-DPCC chief JP Agarwal if he concurred with him or not, Khurshid said the same Ganga that symbolizes piousness for Hindus is considered revered by the Muslims. Hindus perform religious bathing rites in the same Ganga where the Muslim perform Vazoo ritual, both to attain piety.
Questioning the forces who want to attain political gains by dividing Indians, Khurshid said will those people come and share our distress, if they are interested in sharing our happiness? He was addressing “Dilli Ki Bath, Dil Ke Saath” programme in Tahirpur leprosy colony.
Lambasting communal forces while drawing a comparison with the British policy of ‘Divide and Rule’, he further added that such outfits want Indians to be divided. He said Indians have always walked hand-in-hands and fought shoulder-to-shoulder.
Claiming that there was no room in India for religious rifts, he asked if any doctor, medicine or even a disease differentiates between those ailing. He said it is high time that we root out the corrupt BJP from the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD).
Criticizing Aam Admi Party-led Delhi government for misleading the Delhiites for reaping better political harvests, he said the condition of primary health care centers is deteriorating in the national capital day in and day out.
People are left to the mercy of diseases like Dengue and Chikungunya, he said adding that the death toll, due to these diseases, is increasing year after year at an alarming rate.
He dared the governments, both in Delhi and in the Centre, to come to the people with their respective report cards and speak to the people of their performance so far. He said not much have been done when it comes to addressing the bare urban necessities of safety, housing, education and employment generation.
Speaking on the occasion, Agarwal questioned the intentions of Delhi government and said that Kejriwal should come forward and deliberate on milestones achieved in his chief ministership. “We are here to work, not for petty electoral gains like our competitors,” the former DPCC chief added.