Satish Jarkiholi Hindu remark: Congress leader Satish Jarkiholi, who triggered a massive controvery with his 'Hindu has a dirty meaning' remark, has defended his statement and challenged anyone to prove him wrong. Jarkiholi, who the working president of Karnataka Congress, said he is ready to resign and apologise if his statement is proved wrong.
"Let everyone prove I’m wrong. If I am wrong, I’ll resign as MLA and not just apologise for my statement," news agency ANI quoted Satish Jarkiholi, as saying.
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"There's nothing wrong in what I said. There are hundreds of records about how this Persian word (Hindu) came," he says further is a video statement.
The remark by Jarkiholi, who also served as state minister in previous Janata Dal Secular-Congress government, stirred a big row with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) terming it as an attempt to lure minority voters.
Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai accusing Jarkiholi of trying to vitiate the atmosphere in society through such statements said, his statement has hurt the sentiments of people of this country.
The Congress party is indulging in appeasement politics with such statements just for the sake of votes, he said, as he called Jarkiholi's words as half baked statements without any in-depth study.
Congress distances itself from Jarkiholi's remark
Karnataka Congress president DK Shivakumar while describing Jarkiholi's statement as his personal opinion said that the party would seek an explanation from the leader.
"Satish Jarkiholi's statement is his personal opinion and not the Congress party's opinion, we will ask for his explanation on the same. Congress Party supports all religions and does not agree with his statement," Shivakumar said.
What Satish Jarkiholi had said
While speaking at Nippani in Belagavi district during an event organised by "Manav Bandhutva Vedike' on Sunday, Jarkiholi claimed that the word 'Hindu' is Persian and has a very dirty meaning.
The Yamakanmardi MLA also had said that a word and a religion from elsewhere is being forcefully imposed on people here, and demanded that there should be a proper debate in this regard.
(With inputs from agencies)
