Srinagar:  Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) national spokesperson Shahnawaz Hussain on Saturday said Muslims would not find a ‘better country’ than India and a `better friend’ than Hindu.

“After Indonesia, the biggest population of Muslims stays in India. Today an Indian Muslim Shahnawaz Hussain has come to tell you that for Indian Muslims, there is no better country than India…You cannot find a better country than India and a better friend than a Hindu,” Hussain said while addressing a poll rally at Bonigam, Qazigund in South Kashmir.

He claimed that the religious freedom of Muslims in other parts of the world was in danger. “Look at the Muslims in France or Europe or in Israel….what is their situation….. their religious freedom is in danger. (But) no one’s religious freedom is in danger in India. If 25 crore Muslims can live at ease in India….you are also Indian citizens, we will take everybody along,” he said.

Hussain is among the star campaigners of BJP who are canvassing for District Development Council (DDC) polls in Jammu and Kashmir. Pertinently, the BJP has never won a seat in an assembly or parliamentary election from in the Valley. However, the party won over 100 seats in 2018 municipal elections amid a boycott by the National Conference (NC) and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

Continuing its tirade against the ‘Gupkar Gang’, Hussain said they (NC and PDP heads) are opportunists and are only worried about their families. “They live in big palaces and they have only provoked people,” he said

Reiterating that J&K will not get back its special status, he said: “If you go to the court against every law passed by the Parliament, it does not become sub-judice just like that. Has the court given them any stay (against Article 370)? Article 370 has been buried and will not come back from the grave.”

“J&K is India’s crown and we will put diamonds of development in it. We will open medical and engineering colleges. Looters have gone and now work will be done honestly. We didn’t have strength in the Valley once but now we are fielding elections everywhere,” he added.

On BJP’s promise to restore J&K’s statehood, Hussain said: “We never said we will not give statehood. But in the present situation, there are separatists, NC, and PDP. They have made the Gupkar gang… We are fighting elections for development. We want the lotus to bloom in the Valley.”