“Kashmir was an abode of peace and is called ‘Pir Vear’ (Valley of Saints). The messages on the banners (invoking Sufi saints) have been conceived by party workers as we want peace to return… the Prime Minister too is coming here for peace” Altaf Thakur, BJP media in charge
Amid the raging debate over the “growing intolerance” in the country, a few BJP banners set up in the city to welcome Prime Minister Narendra Modi have invoked the Sufi message of tolerance.
“Nund Rishi, Lal Ded ki dharti pe khush amdeed (we welcome you to the land of Nund Rishi, Lal Ded)” read one of the many banners as Modi is scheduled to address a rally here tomorrow.
By invoking 14th-century Sufi saint Hazrat Sheikh Nooruddin Wali, known as Nund Rishi, and mystic poetess Lal Ded, who had a great impact on his spiritual growth, the BJP is trying to send out the message that Modi is here for “peace”. It is presenting a “tolerant” image of the party in the Valley, where it is striving hard to gain acceptance from the public at large.
“Kashmir was an abode of peace and is called ‘Pir Vear’ (Valley of Saints). The messages on the banners have been conceived by party workers as we want peace to return… the Prime Minister too is coming here for peace,” said BJP media in charge Altaf Thakur, who is also looking after the arrangements for the rally.
Thakur said Modi was coming here to “win hearts” while asserting that the BJP was “growing rapidly” in the Muslim-majority Kashmir. He said Modi in a recent radio programme “Mann Ki Baat” had even applauded Sufi culture. After a meeting with a group of 40 Sufi scholars in August, Modi had stated that the ideology propounded by Sufi saints was integral to the Indian ethos.
This is not the first time when the BJP has portrayed itself as a secular party in the Valley where it is trying to shed the “untouchable” tag. The BJP functions ahead of previous parliamentary and Assembly elections would start with Koranic recitations.
During campaigning, BJP state vice-president Ramesh Arora had even stated that “Islam will grow better” in its rule. “This contention is wrong that the BJP is a communal party. Kashmir is a land of Sufi saints. Islam will grow better during our regime,” he had said.
