BJP not anti-Muslim, my business partner was a Muslim: Vala

Governor Vajubhai Vala spoke about the need for peaceful coexistence among people of different religions, castes and races at the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community Peace Symposium 2017 here on Sunday.

“People think that BJP members cannot be friends with Muslims and that they are always against each other. But my father was business partner with a Muslim and so was I,” Vala said. He said that the peace process should begin at home, with men treating their wife and children with respect.

“Today I read about US President Trump’s speech in which he says that people from certain countries will not be allowed to enter the US. One good man is all it takes to uplift society but at the same time one man is all it takes to uproot society too,” he said.

Leaders from various religious communities were present at the event. Father Victor Lobo of Bangalore Archdiocese, Prof Harjinder Singh Bhatia of Gurudwara Sri Guru Singh Sabha and Kasappa Mahathera, president of Maha Bodhi Society, were among those who attended the event.

Writer Baragur Ramachandrappa said, “Muslims are often labelled as ‘terrorists’ but it is wrong to stereotype an entire community in this manner. Terrorism does not have a religion.”