Former Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad sparked controversy over his comment on the origin of Muslims and saying that Hinduism is older than Islam.While addressing a gathering in Doda district, the former Congress leader on August 14 said, "We have the example of Kashmir, 600 years ago there was no Muslim in Kashmir, Kashmiri Pandits were converted to Islam. Not only in India but also in the world, Islam came 1500 years ago, Hinduism is very old." The chief of Democratic Progressive Azad Party said, "Islam must have come from outside, 10-20 people from the Mughal army. The rest have converted from Hindu-Sikh."
In the video which has gone viral, Azad said, "We have built the state for the Hindus, Muslims, Dalits, Kashmiris. This is our land, no one has come here from outside. I have seen many things in Parliament which do not reach you. One of our fellow MP said some have come from outside... I denied. In our Hindustan, Islam is just 1500 years old. Hinduism is very old, so 10-20 of them must have come from outside when they were in their army during the time of Mughals, rest all have converted from Hindu to Muslim in India and our Kashmir is an example of that."
Veteran Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad had joined the growing roster of prominent politicians who had quit the grand old party in August last year. Azad's departure was perceived as a significant setback for Congress, occurring before the assembly elections in Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh, as well as the party's 'Bharat Jodo Yatra' set to commence on September 7. While Azad had employed notably strong language in criticising the Congress leadership, particularly Rahul Gandhi, multiple leaders in the past had expressed their apprehensions regarding the party's operational approach in recent years.