“It’s wrong to say that I’m acting under someone’s pressure. I’ve never done so,” Bhardwaj said in his address at the Founder’s Day programme of the Al-Ameen Education Society in the City on Saturday evening.
The first citizen of the State also refused to buy the theory of senior BJP leader Venkaiah Naidu that his letter to Speaker of the Legislative Assembly KG Bopaiah on rebel MLAs was ‘illegal and unconstitutional’. “I really don’t care what people say about me. I’ve never cared for power. I’ve reached this office bare-foot in a long career,” he asserted.
Emphasising on communal harmony, the Governor, who spoke in chaste Urdu, reiterated that India could not prosper unless Muslims and other minorities were taken along. “Ours is not a country of just one religion or community. Muslims and other communities have also contributed immensely to India’s growth. They shouldn’t be forced to believe that they are being snubbed,” he noted, pointing out that it was Mughals who united the country and formed an empire which until then consisted of small territories.
On peaceful co-existence of different religious groups, the Governor recalled how India’s first prime minister Nehru would never call Maulana Azad to his office to meet him. “Panditji would call Azad’s private secretary for an appointment with him. That’s how he revered him,” Bhardwaj noted.
On the occasion, eight teachers of various institutes run by the Society were felicitated. Founder and Chairman of the Society Dr Mumtaz Ahmad Khan, Minister for Haj, Wakf and Minorities’ Welfare Mumtaz Ali Khan were present.