Excelsior Correspondent
Srinagar, May 16: As the protests of Kashmiri Pandits continue across Kashmir, Bhartiya Janata Party’s J&K President Ravinder Raina today said that the Pakistan sponsored terrorism has left every home in Kashmir mourning even as he said that Hindus, as well as Muslims, have sacrificed their lives for the country equally.
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Raina was addressing a gathering of Kashmiri Pandits at Shiekhpora in Budgam where they are on a sit-in for the last several days. He told the gathering that the entire country stands with them.
“We stand with you and you do not have to resign. You need not leave Kashmir because then you will be called cowards; it is your right to work and live here,” he said.
Pakistan sponsored terrorism has left every home in Kashmir mourning and has destroyed scores of lives, be it Kashmiri pandits or Kashmiri Muslims or Sikhs, he said.
“There is a need to understand that this fight is not about Hindu-Muslim rather, it is a fight of people who hold the tri-colour with love, against those who are the enemies of this nation,” he said.
Raina assured the gathering that whosoever used the force against them during the protest earlier and failed to protect the members of the community will have to face consequences
Raina said that if Bhagat Singh and Chandra Shekhar Azad gave their lives for the glory of the tri-colour “then Bahadar Shah Zafar and Ashfaq Ullah Khan also sacrificed their lives for the same; even Muhammad Maqbool Sherwani sacrificed his life in Baramulla for the glory of the tri-colour.”
He told the gathering that raising the slogans of India here in Kashmir is the identity of Kashmiri Pandits and the demands put forth by them should be fulfilled.
“Whatever demands you have put forth should be fulfilled and let me tell you that entire country stands with you; and at the same time, I understand that you are angry, but that’s your right,” he said.
Raina said that India stands for the right to life, and religious tolerance “and that’s same for everyone be it someone from Tamil Nadu or Kashmir.”
He said that the murder of Rahul Bhat and Riyaz Ahmad Thoker is not only the murder of two humans but the entire humanity. “It is a blot on humanity. It is injustice and not jihad, it is a great sin,” he said.
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