A video has gone viral in which former Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad is seen saying that “everyone was born a Hindu” in this country, adding that Islam emerged around 1,500 years ago, while Hinduism is deeply ancient.

Hindu religion is much older than Islam in India. Muslims in our country are because of conversions from Hindus and in Kashmir all Muslims were converted from Kashmiri Pandits.

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Azad’s remarks against the backdrop of religions in India have triggered a fresh debate, particularly in Jammu and Kashmir.

The video shot during his speech to his DPAP activists in the Thatri village of his native Doda district, shows Azad sharing his views on the historical religious landscape of India during which he said that “all individuals were initially followers of Hinduism in this nation.”

“They (Muslims) must have come from outside, 10-20 from the Army of Mughals. Rest all are converted from Hindus-Sikhs. We have an example in Kashmir, there was no one Muslim in Kashmir 600 years ago, Kashmiri Pandits were converted to Islam. All are born in this religion,” Azad said.

Azad said, “Our shared heritage is rooted in Hinduism. Whether identified as Hindu, Muslim, Rajput, Brahmin, Dalit, Kashmiri or Gujjar, our common origins link us to this land. Our ancestral connections are deeply embedded here, and it is to this land that we shall return beyond this life.”

In the video, Azad further said, “I have said this in Parliament also. That might not have reached you. In a discussion, a BJP member was telling me about who came from outside and who belonged to this land. I said, there is not an issue of insider and outsider. Every one of us is from here only. Islam emerged around 1,500 years ago, while Hinduism is deeply ancient”.

Giving the example of Kashmir, Azad asked; “Was there any Muslim in Kashmir 600 years ago? All of them were Kashmiri Pandits before they were converted to Islam. Therefore, I say that all are originally born in the Hindu Dharma only. Considering the importance of this 9th August (August Kranti) I think everyone – whether Hindu, Muslim, Rajput, Brahmin, Dalit, Kashmiri, or Gujjar, are all part of this homeland and we shall be together to make this home.

“This is our homeland. None of us has come from outside. Our roots are in this land, we are born in this soil and we shall return to it after we die. Similarly, when our Hindu brothers die, they are cremated. And after the cremation, their family members also take their ashes to the rivers in this country,” he said.