Taking a serious note of the Dadri lynching incident, J&K Chief Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed on Wednesday asked the Centre to take steps for curbing such incidents as they "do not bode well for the country".

COMMERCIAL BREAK
SCROLL TO CONTINUE READING

"The government which is ruling the country should take steps to check such incidents. These incidents are highly condemnable and everyone has condemned it," he told reporters after addressing the PDP workers.

Sayeed said the BJP led NDA government at the Centre has got the mandate for providing good governance, transparency and inclusive development across the country. He said at the time of partition, a large number of Muslims stayed back in India and made it their home as they saw their future here.

"According to 2011 Census, there are roughly 17 crore Muslims in India. They chose to make India their nation ... those who went to the other side (Pakistan) went there ... but they (Indian Muslims) contributed to the nation building despite grave provocations," he said.

Sayeed said India is a composite civilisation of "Ganga, Yamuna and Indus".

"If we are divided, we cannot progress on the path of inclusive development... if there is a loose end, it has to be tied. (Otherwise), it is not in India's interest," he added.

The Chief Minister noted that there were apprehensions that the schemes for minorities including Muslims might be stopped if NDA came to power at the Centre.

"However, the affirmative action has continued ... students from Jammu and Kashmir alone get 5,000 scholarships to study in educational institutions of the country," he said.

50-year-old Mohammed Iqlakh was beaten to death by a 200-strong mob on a street near Dadri in Uttar Pradesh last week over rumours of eating beef, while his 20-year-old son Danish was severely injured in the attack.

Talking about the PDP-BJP coalition state government, Sayeed said his government took over the reins in a challenging situation.

"We have worked very hard to put the state back on the tracks ... works of few ministers like Altaf Bukhari ((roads and buildings) and Lal Singh (Health) is visible but everyone is working silently to improve the situation," he said.

Sayeed said he has been a strong votary for dialogue and was ready for "battle of ideas" with those not pursuing the path of violence.

"I believe in boli (dialogue) and not goli (bullet) for resolving issues. Look what happened in Syria and Iraq, two symbols of Islamic civilisation. We are pained to see these places today," he added.