Headlines
War of words between Congress, BJP over 'Hindu terror'
New Delhi, Aug 1
A war of words broke out between the ruling BJP and the opposition
Congress on Saturday over the "Hindu terror" issue, with the latter
accusing the former of polarising the country.
The BJP later asked Congress president Sonia Gandhi to clarify her party's stand on the issue.
On
Friday, Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh had accused the Congress in
the Lok Sabha of coining the term "Hindu terrorism" and weakening the
fight against terror.
Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad on
Saturday said the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance government was
trying to rake up the "Hindu terror" issue to divide and polarise the
country.
"The comment of the then home minister is being quoted
out of context. It is a deliberate attempt on the part of the government
for various reasons - to divide the country, to rake up the debate
between two religions," Azad told the media.
The BJP government
is doing this to divert the attention of the people from its failure to
effectively counter the threat of terrorism, to abuse and to use the
parliamentary forum, to abuse and defame its opponents, particularly the
Congress.
"The Congress has always been against terrorism, be it
Jammu and Kashmir, Punjab, north eastern states or the states sharing
borders with our neighbours. We have seen our sitting prime minister
Indira Gandhi martyred to terrorism," he added.
The BJP was quick to hit back after Azad's accusation on Saturday.
Union
minister and senior BJP leader Ravi Shankar Prasad said the "BJP wants
to know from Sonia Gandhi does she approve of the whole level of Hindu
terror being alleged by Rahul Gandhi and other Congress leaders?"
Prasad also said Rahul Gandhi once told a US ambassador that "threat of LeT is inferior in comparison to Hindu terror".
"Responding
to a US ambassador's query about LeT's activity in the region and
immediate threat to India, Rahul Gandhi had said there was evidence of
some support for the group among certain elements in India's indigenous
Muslim community.
"However, he (Rahul) warned that the bigger
threat may be growth of radicalised Hindu group which creates tension
and political confrontation with the Muslim community," Prasad said,
quoting the The Guardian, a British daily.
Prasad also clarified that the BJP talks about "Jihadi terror" not "Muslim terrorism".
"Sushil
Kumar Shinde had said India is concerned about Hindu terror. When
Chidambaram was home minister he had also spoken about saffron terror.
BJP's stand on this is clear that terrorism has no belief, no religion.
We have never spoken about Muslim terrorism, we have spoken about jihadi
terror," Prasad said.