Democratic Progressive Azad Party (DPAP) chairman Ghulam Nabi Azad addressed the recent controversy surrounding his statement regarding Muslim-Hindu conversions in India on Saturday (August 19), saying that his entire speech was not recorded and that what has surfaced is a portion of the entire speech in which he discussed his "viral" statement in depth.
In a video posted by news agency PTI, Azad explained, "My full video was not recorded due to which it was misinterpreted by people. Actually, I was talking about Hindu-Muslim relations in India. And I talked about a few people who say that Muslims came from outside. There are two things in this respect, firstly, there are very few Muslims who came from outside, a larger chunk of the population lived in India only. Secondly, neither in the world nor in our country, Islam did not come using weapons. It came through the message of love and peace."
"Unfortunately, these things were not recorded. I also talked about the fact that in India, Hinduism is evident since ancient times, and this is true because Islam wasn't born here in this country, Islam spread and reached this region. But this statement of mine was not recorded," Azad continued.
Take A Look At The Video Here:
Earlier this week, during a public meeting, Azad had stated, "A BJP leader said some have come from outside, I would say no one has come from outside. Islam has come only 1,500 years ago and Hinduism is very old in India. 10-20 people may have come from outside, who were with the Mughal army during their period. The rest of the Muslims have converted from Hinduism."
Azad also stressed the unity of different communities in India, saying, "It is our home, we haven’t come from outside. We were born on this soil and will perish in it." He further highlighted the shared connection between Hindus and Muslims, noting, "Our Hindu brothers burn their dead, let the ashes flow in the river... In our country, after death, a Muslim is buried under the ground... His body becomes a part of the soil of Mother India, so where are the Hindus and where are the Muslims? Everyone is found in the soil here."