Comparing Hindutva with ISIS and jihadist Islam factually wrong: Ghulam Nabi Azad on Salman Khurshid book row
Joining the debate over his colleague and senior leader Salman Khurshid's book launch, Congress' Ghulam Nabi Azad too said that their political ideology on Hindutva may be different than that of the Bharatiya Janata Party. However, likening Hindutva with the jihadist Islam of terrorist groups such as ISIS and Boko Haram is 'factually wrong,' the G-23 member said.
A statement released by the senior leader said, "We may not agree with Hindutva as a political ideology distinct from the composite culture of Hinduism, but comparing Hindutva with ISIS and jihadist Islam is factually wrong and exaggeration."
The book by former Union minister Khurshid on the Ayodhya verdict was released on Wednesday.
The BJP too has launched a scathing attack on the Congress and said the opposition party is weaving a web like a spider against Hindus. Addressing a press conference at the party headquarters here, BJP spokesperson Gaurav Bhatia said Khurshid's book on Ayodhya hurts religious sentiments of people. "In this book Hinduism is compared to ISIS and Boko Haram," Bhatia said, adding that the Congress is weaving a web like a spider against Hindus."
Alleging that this is happening at the behest of Congress president Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi, Bhatia questioned her silence on the issue and said: "If you remain silent, then it will be clear that your ideology is also against Hindus." Demanding Khurshid's removal from the Congress, the BJP spokesperson said, "Earlier, the term 'Hindu terrorism' was invented when the Congress was in power.
BJP IT cell head Amit Malviya in a tweet highlighted a paragraph of the book and said, "Congress's Salman Khurshid in his new book writes that Hindutva is similar to the jihadist Islamist groups like ISIS and Boko Haram. What else can we expect from someone whose party coined the term Saffron terror just to draw equivalence with Islamic jihad, to get Muslim votes?"
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