Govt should fulfil promise on OROP: Farooq Abdullah

Former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Farooq Abdullah today supported the demand for 'One Rank, One Pension' by agitating ex-servicemen and said the central government should fulfil the "promise" made to the veterans.

"That (OROP) has been agreed on in Parliament when the other government was there. The OROP should be given. That is the promise that the earlier government has made. I think this government should fulfil this promise made to them (ex-serviceman)," the National Conference patron told reporters on the sidelines of a function here.

The ex-servicemen have been agitating for 77 days at the Jantar Mantar in Delhi demanding implementation of the scheme which envisages a uniform pension for the defence personnel who retire in the same rank with the same length of service, irrespective of their date of retirement.

Replying to queries on the issue of population of various religious groups as revealed in the recently released Census data and the remarks of RSS, Abdullah said, there was "no threat to Bharat" with the growth of the Muslim community.

"There is no such thing that their (Muslim) population has grown and they posed a danger. There is no such danger. A Muslim is as Indian as anybody else is," he said.

"I don't know about their (RSS) statement but I can tell you one thing that India belongs to all faiths whether we are Muslims, whether we are Hindus, Sikhs or Christians. Whoever is an Indian, the country belongs to him," he said.

Earlier, while speaking at the function organised to mark the first death anniversary of prominent journalist and activist Bajraj Puri, Abdullah said that Puri was a champion of the cause of uniting all the three regions of the state.

Abdullah asserted that he strongly believes in unity of all the three regions.

"Jammu has its own aspirations. All the regions in the state have their aspirations and we have to think about all of them," he said.

The NC patron said that Jammu is the gateway of Kashmir whereas Kashmir is the gateway of Ladakh.

"If Jammu does not exist where will Kashmir go? Kashmir cannot go to China. There is no question of going to Pakistan. We all will die," he said.

Referring to Jammu riots of 1989 when he was the Chief Minister, he said that there were some people who tried to vitiate the atmosphere.

"I had prior information that something wrong wasgoing to happen but Sikh community assured me that the procession would be peaceful" he said.

"...How long we will be divided on the lines of caste and religion. How long will they keep on saying that Kashmir is different, Jammu is different and Ladakh is different? Whereas we send a message across the border that we are one. This state is one even if its name is in three parts- Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh," he said.