PDP President Mehbooba Mufti at the HT Leadership summit in New Delhi.
Claiming that the Bihar election results have done a "great job in answering communal elements," PDP President Mehbooba Mufti has hoped that "fringe elements" will now be checked.
She also said that the PDP-BJP alliance in Jammu and Kashmir was mainly aimed at taking forward the peace initiatives of former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee.
"In our country tolerance is the strength and if we don't stop these so-called fringe elements... What is happening in Syria, Afghanistan, Iraq... because those are also fringe elements who are misusing the name of Islam," she said while speaking at the HT Leadership summit.
Mehbooba Mufti, whose party - PDP heads the coalition government with BJP in Jammu and Kashmir, said that the Bihar election results have done a "great job" to reject the "fringe elements" who misuse religion by comparing it with "nationalism".
Ms Mufti went on to say, "... When people are trying to fight a battle with rising prices, don't get onions, and suddenly some people start dictating as to which meat should one consume? This is not done. This is not acceptable," she said.
In reply to a question why many young people are getting attracted to radical groups like ISIS, she said, "There are elements among Muslims who have problems in the world, but not in India."
"So while dealing with the problem of ISIS, we should not blame Islam for everything. Indian Muslims need to be saluted because even though there has been militancy in Kashmir, we have never seen Indian Muslims taking part in it."
"We should not be influenced by ISIS in a manner that we start suspecting every Muslim because that will be furthering their (ISIS) cause," she said.
Ms Mufti also asked corporates and business houses to "welcome youths of Kashmir and give them jobs and respect rather than suspecting them."
Defending the decision of her party to have a coalition with BJP despite having some upsets within her own party, Mehbooba Mufti said, "When my father took this decision he did not think about electoral politics. I think he thought more about generations, the new generations of Jammu and Kashmir. He thought more about the country, he thought more about the people, and also to bridge the gap between Jammu and Kashmir and the rest of India. He also wants to take Vajpayee ji's initiative to a logical conclusion."
She said if politically the alliance with BJP had to be weighed, it may be a 'ghate ka sauda' (not profitable electorally), but this has been done keeping in mind a better future for the coming generations of the state. At least this is his (Mufti Sayeed's) conviction."
"And if this is a success, it will be a big success story for the entire country," she said while terming it as "a major political experiment after 1947 when the state had joined with India."
Asked whether Prime Minister Narendra Modi was following former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee's initiative, she said, "With the passage of time, I think he is coming around it."