Narendra Modi hits back at Farooq's 'drown in sea' jibe; says Abdullahs ruined J&K

NEW DELHI: National Conference (NC) chief Farooq Abdullah's comments on BJP's Prime Ministerial candidate came under fire on Monday, with Narendra Modi tweeting, "Instead of telling those voting for Modi to drown, Dr. Abdullah should look at himself & his family in the mirror & see how they ruined J&K."

Taking to micro-blogging site Twitter, Modi accused Abdullah and his family of 'communalising' J&K. "Due to communal politics of Abdullah family, Kashmiri Pandits were removed from their homes only due to their religion. Is this secularism?" he asked.

"Just for the sake of politics, Dr. Abdullah's family communalised J&K, which is a land of Sufism and harmony. Dr. Abdullah, in the history of our glorious culture, if there is someone who has done most harm to secularism it is you and your family," Modi said.

"We are secular not because the word was added in our Constitution. Secularism is in our blood. We believe in Sarva Pantha Sambhava," Modi said. "Our path is the path of good governance & development. Irresponsible statements by the likes of Dr. Abdullah cannot derail India's mission," he added.

Farooq Abdullah had on Sunday said those who vote for Narendra Modi should "drown" in the sea and also threatened that Kashmir will not remain with India if the country becomes communal.

"Pray to God to save us from communal forces so that we can move forward. India cannot become communal. If it becomes communal, then Kashmir will not remain with India. Communalism is not acceptable to Kashmiris," Abdullah told a poll rally.




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The NC leader while taking a dig at Bihar BJP leader Giriraj Singh said, "they say those who do not vote for Modi should go to Pakistan. (I say) Those who vote for Modi should drown in the sea."

The BJP hit back at Farooq for his remarks that communalism was not acceptable, saying that the country does not need a certificate from the Union minister to become secular.

Senior BJP leader Arun Jaitley wrote on his blog, "Dr. Farooq Abdullah's statement that those voting for Narendra Modi would drown themselves into sea deserves to be condemned by all. This demonstrates Dr.Abdullah's contempt for the majority opinion."

"Farooq Sahib believes and rightly so that India is secular and will not accept communal politics. Where is it that secularism in India has seen the single greatest failure? We had aberrations and unfortunate incidents in various parts of the country. However, Indian society has demonstrated resilience and managed to get out of the crisis quickly and normalize itself. The single greatest failure of secularism in India is within Farooq Sahib's own state of Kashmir," Jaitley slammed.

"If India has witnessed an ethnic cleansing by having one community of the State, namely, the Kashmiri Pundits ejected out of the State, it has only happened in Kashmir. India will never accept communal politics. I am glad when Farooq Sahib says that Kashmir will not accept communal politics. But will Kashmir offer the red carpet back for the resettlement of the Kashmiri Pundits," he wrote.

"India will vote Narendra Modi as the Prime Minister. Nobody needs to jump into the sea because of that. But if Farooq Sahib and his party are silent spectators, when the Kashmiri Pundits cannot go back home he should, as a gesture of repentance, at least take a dip in the Dal lake," he added.

(With inputs from PTI)