"Am An Indian Muslim, Not Chinese Muslim": Farooq Abdullah Jabs Centre

Farooq Abdullah, the former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister, has taken a swipe at the centre over alleged mistreatment of Muslims in the country.

"We are with you. We have to keep the country as one, from Kashmir to Kanyakumari...I am a Muslim, but an Indian Muslim. I am not a Chinese Muslim," Mr Abdullah said at an event organised by the Nationalist Congress Party, or NCP, to celebrate the 75th birthday of Chhagan Bhujbal, a senior leader of the NCP led by Sharad Pawar.

Shiv Sena's Uddhav Thackeray, lyricist Javed Akhtar and NCP leader Ajit Pawar were among the leaders who attended the event.

Mr Abdullah's comment comes just days after two BJP leaders - an MP and an MLA - at an event in Delhi allegedly gave hate speeches that called for "total boycott" of a community, seemingly Muslims, which the opposition leaders and critics of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his party, the BJP, have termed extremely dangerous.

"Everyone may be different. But together we can build this country. That is called friendship. Religions don't teach people to hate each other...This is Hindustan. It belongs to everyone," said Mr Abdullah, who was jailed for over a year after special status to Jammu and Kashmir under the Constitution was scrapped in August 2019.

Mr Thackeray's attendance at the birthday celebration of NCP's Mr Bhujbal has a connection with the Shiv Sena. For one, the NCP is the ally of the Sena group led by Mr Thackeray, whose rival group is led by Chief Minister Eknath Shinde.

Last week, the Election Commission allowed Team Thackeray to use the election symbol "flaming torch" for an upcoming by-election in Maharashtra. This symbol was used by the Sena in an election in 1985 and Mr Bhujbal had won from Mumbai's Mazgaon constituency. Mr Bhujbal later left the Sena and joined the Congress, before he eventually moved to the NCP.