Delivering an impassioned speech in the Lok Sabha on Tuesday, 9 February, National Conference leader and former J&K Chief Minister Farooq Abdullah appealed to the treasury benches not to create discrimination in the country in the name of 'Ram' or 'Allah', saying all these names belong to one God before whom we bow.
Speaking on the Motion of Thanks to the President's Address, Abdullah said God has made us all the same whether it is Hindus or Muslims.
“You go to a temple, I go to a mosque, some visit Gurudwara or Church. A doctor never looks at a bottle of blood and asks whether the blood is that of a Hindu or a Muslim. Ram belongs to the ‘vishva’ (whole world),” the National Conference leader said.
The leader continued, "Ram belongs to the whole world. Ram belongs to all of us. The way Muslims have held on to the Quran, the Quran is not just ours."
The veteran leader also urged the government to take the farmers' issue seriously and resolve their issues as soon as possible by consulting those protesting at Delhi's borders for more than 70 days seeking withdrawal of three contentious farm laws terming them "black laws" or "anti-farmer".
"Laws were made by us. If they (farmers) want that the laws be repealed, we should consider it. What will you lose if you talk to them? We are here to get solutions, not to create obstacles. Please find a solution," Abdullah urged the government.
The leader said that these farm laws are not a religious scripture that changes cannot be made.
“Why cannot you talk to the farmers? Let us respect everybody in the nation. All have played major role in the struggle of freedom fight and everybody is behind developing this country.”Farooq Abdullah
Talking about 5 August 2019 when Article 370 of the Constitution was abrogated, Abdullah said "you (government) took the decision and imposed it without consulting us".
He thanked the government for restoring 4G services in the Union Territory but claimed that not even one of the 50,000 jobs promised to the people of Jammu and Kashmir had been delivered.
He congratulated Indian scientists for developing the COVID-19 vaccine.
Further, Abdullah accused MPs in the treasury benches for questioning the stature of political visionaries such as Jawaharlal Nehru, suggesting that such kind of politics is not good.
"I feel really bad when we see that we are pointing fingers at Jawaharlal, Sardar Patel, Indira Gandhi, Rajiv Gandhi and other leaders. Tomorrow, you may not be in power. Will we talk about this PM then? This is not the Indian tradition. Respect the one who has gone.
"I have seen Sardar Patel and even Gandhi ji. My father was sent to jail by Jawahar but they wept when my father met him after being released from prison," the leader said.
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