Not ready to accept India is communal; fight for Article 370 will continue: Farooq Abdullah

National Conference president and Lok Sabha MP Farooq Abdullah has expressed hope the Supreme Court will soon hear the petitions challenging the abrogation of Article 370 and also vowed to continue politically the fight to restore the special status of Jammu and KashmirHe said the next assembly polls will provide the first opportunity to fight the battle politically for the special status of JampK under the provisions of constitutionWe are in the Supreme Court for the restoration of Article 370 and are hopeful that it will hear the petitions soon and we will get relief from this difficult situation the former chief minister saidAbdullah was chairing a daylong convention of the partys block workers officebearers and functionaries at Batote in Ramban district on Tuesday as part of efforts to sensitise them on the ongoing special summary revision of electoral rollsAlso Read Peace cannot be restored by army and police in Kashmir Farooq AbdullahWe are not only dependent on the apex court he told them We are having a political fight without asking people to throw bricks grenades or use guns Our fight is a political fight and we are going to fight it politically Obviously the first chance we have got is the next Assembly election The more we win the more we will be able to take forward this in the AssemblyReferring to the independence struggle he said the National Conference never abandoned the flag of secularismIn 1947 the Muslim majority Jammu and Kashmir heard the chants of AllahuAkbar God is great but we never accepted the two nation theory Had we gone there what would have happened to Hindus Sikhs and Buddhists of Jammu and Kashmir They had only option to migrate and our fight was against itToday the same fight continues We are not ready to accept that India is communal India has been secular and it will remain secular Abdullah saidHe also sought to downplay the recent controversy over school staff making students recite the famous bhajan Raghupati Raghav Raja Ram in a classroom in Kashmir saying nobody loses their faith by singing bhajans or visiting a Muslim or Hindu shrineI used to sing Bhajans he said asking by singing Bhajan have I become a Hindu If a Hindu is visiting the Ajmer Sharif Dargah or the Nizamuddin Auliya shrine does he become a MuslimSeveral of our people pay obeisance at the shrine of Mata Vaishno Devi do they also turn into Hindus No the people go there revered places because they feel their problems will get resolved there Everyone belongs to Him the almighty he saidHe termed frivolous thinking the ban on Dastaar Bandi turban tying ceremony of politicians by the Jammu and Kashmir Waqf Board and said it is an honour bestowed on people which is prevalent since the Dogra ruleThe Jammu and Kashmir Waqf Board had recently issued an order saying Dastaar Bandi would only be done to felicitate those who have made achievements in the religious fieldWith time such types of orders will vanish and Dastaar Bandi ceremonies will return and nobody is going to stop it It is an honour and is prevalent since the Maharajas time he said adding caps replaced turbans but elderly people still wear turbans and are honourableThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever