We are not communal, says BJP in Srinagar

Attempting to make inroads into Kashmir Valley, BJP today said it was not "communal" and Islam will grow "better" under its regime if the party is voted to power in the state.
"This notion that BJP is a communal party is wrong. Kashmir is the land of Sufi saints and Islam will grow better during our regime," BJP leader and party in-charge of Kashmir affairs, Ramesh Arora told reporters here.
Arora said though a state has no religion, everyone had a right to propagate his religion and there should be no political interference in it.
"The state as such has no religion but we (BJP) respect all religions and pledge religious freedom to all as guaranteed in the Constitution.

"Everyone has a right to propagate his religion and there should be no political interference in it," he said.
The BJP state vice-president said the party's stand on the Article 370 of the Constitution, which guarantees a special status to Jammu and Kashmir, was clear and it wants a debate over it.

"We have a clear stand on Article 370, which Modi and other leaders of the party have made specifically clear that we want debate and discussions on the issue.
"If people think it benefits them, then let it be but if they say it has not benefitted them, we will proceed accordingly," he said.

The BJP leader said that "political terrorism", among other factors, was responsible for the situation in Jammu and Kashmir and the politicians in the state had been "exploiting" the people in all the three regions for their benefits.
"Among other factors, political terrorism is responsible for the situation in Jammu and Kashmir. There is political sponsored terrorism in the unrest that happened in the state and in last elections as well. We do not want to run the things like that," Arora said.
He said people of the state had understood that BJP is the only option to take the state forward towards development and prosperity.

"There has been large scale corruption which has lead to unemployment, non-development and big projects not taking off here. People have now understood that BJP is the only option to take the state forward towards development and prosperity," he said.