On June 12 when the communal tension was high after the imposition of curfew in some parts of Jammu province, the president of the J&K unit of BJP Ravinder Raina was addressing a rally of Muslims in the highly sensitive border district of Rajouri.
At the rally, a prominent Congress leader and elected member of the District Development Council (DDC) from the Thanamandi area of the Rajouri district, Mohammad Qayoom Mir joined BJP in the presence of senior leaders.
Amid tension in different parts of Jammu province, BJP is reaching out to Muslims in the communally sensitive areas of this region to defuse the situation. After provocative statements by some leaders tension flared in the mountainous Chenab belt of Jammu province.
For the last week, BJP leaders are addressing rallies in the Muslim majority areas, especially in the twin border districts of Poonch and Rajouri to thwart the designs of some forces to create communal tension in this region.
During the Rajouri rally, Ravinder Raina minced no words in attacking radical elements and recited some verses from the holy book Nabi-E-Rehmat to spread the message of communal harmony and brotherhood.
Without naming some party leaders who have given provocate statements, Ravinder Raina assured that people believe in brotherhood and communal harmony.
BJP president approaches PMO to airlift Shoaib Lone
Assiduous efforts of J&K BJP president to get injured MBBS student of Rajouri Shoaib Lone airlifted from Dhaka Bangladesh to AIIMS Delhi have hailed by the residents of this border district.
Not only family members of Shoaib Lone, but the majority of the people of this district have also appreciated the serious efforts of BJP leadership to get the critically injured student airlifted to Delhi.
As reported earlier, with the efforts of J&K BJP leaders an MBBS student Shoaib Lone was airlifted from Bangladesh and shifted to the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) New Delhi for treatment.
BJP focussing on Pahari Muslims
The joining of Mohammad Qayoom Mir in the party is a clear indication that the BJP is focussing on prominent Pahari Muslims of Poonch and Rajouri districts to make inroads in these two Muslim majority districts of Jammu province.
Keeping in view the deep ethnic divide among Scheduled Tribes (STs) and Paharies in this mountainous belt, BJP is now focussing on Pahari Muslims to further expand its base in this belt.
Already a prominent Pahari face of Rajouri, Mohammad Iqbal Malik has joined the party and won the election as a DDC member on a BJP ticket.
BJP has supported ST status for Paharies - a community which is a dominant force in Poonch, Rajouri districts of Jammu province, and Baramulla and Kupwara districts in Kashmir Valley.
Ths community has been demanding ST status for decades. There are 9.6 lakh Pahari community people in J&K.
In February, prominent Pahari leader and former minister Mushtaq Bukhari, who was the face of the NC in the Poonch district, left the party over the issue. Although he has not joined the BJP yet, he is in touch with party leaders.
