Ghulam Nabi Azad summed up his more than four-decade-old political career in a brief speech.
Congress MP Ghulam Nabi Azad during his retirement speech in Rajya Sabha on Tuesday summed up his more than four-decade-old political career in few Urdu couplets and a brief speech.
"I would like to depart with only a few words using a few couplets. A ten-hour speech can be summed up in merely two couplets by a poet. And I would like to take that approach. To express my thoughts on my entire political career would be a tough task to perform," Mr Azad said in Rajya Sabha.
Going back to the early days of partition, the senior Congress leader said, "I am among those fortunate people who never went to Pakistan. When I read about circumstances in Pakistan, I feel proud to be a Hindustani Muslim."
"If any Muslim should feel proud in the world, it should be the Indian Muslim. Over the years, we have seen how Muslims countries from Afghanistan Iraq getting destroyed. There are no Hindus or Christians there -- they are fighting amongst themselves," he added.
Prior to this, Rajya Sabha witnessed emotional scenes as Prime Minister Narendra Modi recalled the contribution of Ghulam Nabi Azad to the country, the House and also his party.
An emotional Prime Minister Modi bid adieu to Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Ghulam Nabi Azad, who is retiring from the House and recalled his long association with the senior leader.
Lauding the senior Congress leader's contribution to the causes dear to him, the Prime Minister said, "The person who will replace Ghulam Nabi ji (as Leader of Opposition) will have difficulty matching his work because he was not only concerned about his party but also about the country and the House."
Almost teary-eyed, the Prime Minister recalled an incident where Mr Azad's personal intervention led to the return of survivors and corpses of Gujarat residents who had faced a terrorist attack in Jammu and Kashmir.
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