Secularism shares dais with Modi, Farooq

AHMEDABAD: It was deft dose of secularism that was handed out by Farooq Abdullah, the Union Minister for New and Renewable Energy to Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi. During an event held in the city, Mr Abdullah said he wanted to see the country progress to a level when he as a Muslim can see 'Allah' in the eyes of Modi and the chief minister in return could spot 'Ram' in his eyes. The chief minister however, stuck to the development plank in his speech.

While delivering a talk on the progress made in renewable enegry sector at the Indian Institute of Management-Ahmedabad (IIM-A) on Thursday evening, Mr Abdullah who shared the dais with Modi transgressed from his technology talk to religion, changing the language too to Hindi in the process.

Speaking about the holy month of Ramadan, Mr Abdullah who had come for the launch of a Rs 100 crore fund to support innovations in the renewable energy said: "I want to see a day in India, when I can see Allah in the eyes of Modi and he (the chief minister) can spot Ram in my eyes."

He also appealed to the youth of the state (which saw one of the worst communal riots in 2002) not to search for God in temples, but to look within. He also asked the youth in Gujarat not to differentiate on the basis on religion.

These comments come four years after he advised his political friend Narendra Modi not to toe the communal line. Abdullah who was a NDA partner until 2002, had urged Modi after the latter's landslide victory in 2007 that the incidents like Godhra - which are the darkest chapter of Gujarat history - should not be repeated in future. The masses of Gujarat have brought him in power and we should respect their decision instead of connecting the results with the victory of communal forces, Abdullah had said.

Recently, his son J&K chief minister Omar Abdullah castigated Modi for his alleged role in 2002 riots and said IPS officer Sanjiv Bhatt’s allegations are “serious and cannot be wished away”. During 2002, the Abdullahs were with the BJP-led NDA government in the Centre and Omar was the Union minister for state, an association that cost them power that year.

The Gujarat chief minister who listened to Mr Abdullah with rapt attention during the event at IIM-A, however did not get drawn into the debate on religion. Speaking after Mr Abdullah, Mr Modi chose to stick to the the line he toed since the 2002 communal riots focusing by listing out the developments that have happened in Gujarat.

Talking about how Gujarat was the first to have a climate change department and a solar policy, Modi told the audience how his government planned to achieve an installed solar capacity of 500 MW (mega watt) by the end of the current financial year. "Land is a big issue in solar power projects," said Modi who went to explain how his government was planning to lay solar panels on the Narmada canal and distribute the energy to the neighbouring villages.

"One kilometer of solar panel on the canal can generate 1 mega watt of power," said Modi adding that work on this front will begin in the next couple of months. He also told the gathering that micro hydro turbines will be installed under the panels which will generate hydro power from the water flowing in the canal.