In what could be termed a conscious attempt to seek removal of “misgivings” about it and create a soft corner for itself among the region’s majority Muslim community, the BJP said on Wednesday that Islam will only prosper if it comes to power in Jammu and Kashmir.
“Kashmiris must vote en masse for the BJP. This contention is wrong that the BJP is a communal party. Kashmir is a land of Sufi saints. Islam will grow better during our rule,” BJP vice-president Ramesh Arora said here. He also assured the party will not press for the abrogation of Article 370 of the Constitution. Elaborating, he said, “We’ll take people into confidence and assess its merits and demerits to the state and proceed accordingly.” According to him, retaining or seeking abrogation of Article is a serious issue and the BJP does not want to take any vague decision on it. He said, “We’ll take the aspirations of all regions of Jammu and Kashmir into account while dealing with this issue.”
Mr Arora, who is also in-charge of the party’s Kashmir affairs, said the people of Kashmir would feel more secure if the BJP was voted to power. “The state as such has no religion but we (the BJP) respect all religions and pledge religious freedom to all as guaranteed in the Indian Constitution. Those who say the BJP would be a threat to Kashmiriyat are wrong,” he said and added, “The actual threat is to those who say so. Our party will end administrative, police, bureaucratic and political injustice in J&K.”
Mr Arora said, “Those who accuse the BJP of polarisation have gone mad. We don’t speak dual languages in different regions of the state.”