In an apparent disapproval of Bharatiya Janata Party president Lal Kishenchand Advani's remarks on Mohammed Ali Jinnah, the founder of Pakistan, yet another BJP leader has said that Jinnah could never be an ideal or a torch-bearer for Indian Muslims.
"We consider Maulana Abul Kalam Azad as our leader. Indian Muslims are still suffering from the wounds inflicted by Jinnah," BJP secretary and former Union minister Shahnawaz Hussain said in an interview to the Hindi weekly magazine Outlook.
Hussain criticised Jinnah's two-nation theory saying it had created the divide between Hindus and Muslims in India.
"The way Jinnah wanted to give religious freedom in Pakistan, it still does not exist," he said.
In a balancing act, Hussain also hit out at the Vishwa Hindu Parishad, saying it would be wrong to question the patriotism of L K Advani who had quit the top party post in the wake of criticism over his controversial remarks on Jinnah.
"It is wrong to point finger at the patriotism of Advani. When we talk of parivar (family), the VHP leaders should remain within limits," Hussain commented when asked about the charge made by VHP leader Pravin Togadia that Advani was a 'traitor'.
He said the BJP had a large number of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh volunteers as its members and it was difficult to overlook the Sangh's ideology.
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