Srinagar: Former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister and National Conference president Farooq Abdullah on Saturday said that Lord Ram is for everyone and not just for Hindus. He said this while cautioning people to remain vigilant against attempts to divide them on the basis of religion by politicians.

“No religion is bad, its humans who are corrupted, not a religion… They will use ‘Hindu khatre mai hain’ a lot during the elections… but I request you to not fall prey to it,” Abdullah was quoted as saying by news agency ANI.

Akhnoor, J&K | No religion is bad, its humans who are corrupted, not a religion… They will use 'Hindu khatre mai hain' a lot during the elections… but I request you to not fall prey to it: National Conference president Farooq Abdullah in a public rally pic.twitter.com/H1iYQETYlC

— ANI (@ANI) November 19, 2022

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Addressing a public rally in Jammu and Kashmir’s Akhnoor district, Abdullah said: “The National Conference (NC) never sided with Pakistan…when tribal raiders were at our doors and Pakistan founder Muhammad Ali Jinnah came rushing to my father Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah to seek his support, he decided to go with India.”

Attacking Centre over not providing jobs, he said “We were promised 50,000 jobs here, where are they? Our doctors, nurses, paramedical staff, and our children are all unemployed. This cannot be done by a Governor, you cannot hold him accountable. Elections are important.”

Abdullah advocates for J&K statehood

The former chief minister also advocated for restoration of statehood to Jammu and Kashmir and said the time is not far when Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh will be a single entity once again, as reported by news agency PTI.

Referring to the 2019 development, the NC chief said that “we hope they will restore the statehood to Jammu and Kashmir without any further delay”.

“It (restoration of statehood) is imperative. It was unfortunate that our state was downgraded and divided. This time will also change. If you support us at the opportune time (at the time of elections), the time is not far when we will be together again as a single entity – Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh,” he said.

In 2019, the Centre had abrogated Article 370, which granted special status to the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir, and bifurcated it into union territories of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh.