India's division over religion historical blunder: Minister

 The division of the country in 1947 on the basis of the two-nation theory was a historical blunder, Union Minister of State in the Prime Minister's Office Jitendra Singh said on Saturday.

Singh said this while speaking at a function during the inauguration of a medical college in Jammu and Kashmir's Kathua district.

"Those who had agreed to India's division on the basis of religion made a historical blunder.

"A state (Pakistan) created on the basis of religion has proved to be a failed one. At the same time, we in India have been suffering the fallout of the creation of such a failed state," Singh said.

Jammu and Kashmir Governor Satyapal Malik said the state has recorded more development during the Central rule than it has made during "the long years of the so-called popular government".

Malik said: "Your Governor neither plays golf nor drinks in the evening. I spend all my time attending to the people's problems."

"Jammu and Kashmir is the only state in the country that has been allotted eight new medical colleges in one year. We are recruiting 800 new doctors to address the problem of medical staff at both the hospital and the faculty level.

"I request the people to approach Delhi for whatever genuine demands they have. The Narendra Modi government provides a golden opportunity to Jammu and Kashmir to get what it has not got in the last 70 years," the Governor said. IANS