Attack not on me but on Hindu religion, says Salman Khurshid after house vandalised
Police have booked 21 people in connection with the incident at the Congress leader's Nainital residence and promised strict action against them.
Former Union minister Salman Khurshid on Monday described as an attack ‘not on me but on Hindu religion,’ what he said was vandalisation of his house in Nainital, which took place in the backdrop of the ongoing controversy over his recent book, in which he equated Hindutva with terrorist groups such as the ISIS and Boko Haram.
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“I've said in my book that people who do such things don't belong to Hindu religion. Hinduism is a beautiful religion that has given a fantastic culture to this country, and I'm proud of it. This attack is not on me, but on Hindu religion,” the Congress leader told news agency ANI.
On Monday, Khurshid took to Twitter and Facebook to share photos and videos from the incident. “I hoped to open these doors to my friends who have left this calling card. Am I still wrong to say this is not Hinduism?” he wrote on Facebook.
“This is disgraceful. @salman7khurshid is a statesman who has done India proud in international forums and always articulated a moderate, centrist, inclusive vision of the country domestically. The mounting levels of intolerance in our politics should be denounced by those in power,” fellow Congress leader Shashi Tharoor tweeted.
The police have booked a total of 21 people, including one Rakesh Kapil, in connection with the incident. “Strict action will be taken against the perpetrators,” ANI quoted Neelesh Anand, DIG (Kumaon) as saying.
While leaders of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and its ideological mentor, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), have condemned Khurshid's remarks, Congress leaders, too, have distanced themselves from him. Ghulam Nabi Azad said that comparison of Hindutva with jihadist ideology was ‘factually wrong and exaggerated.’ Harish Rawat, meanwhile, remarked that ‘wise men should avoid making such statements.’
Salman Khurshid has drawn this analogy between Hindutva and ISIS-Boko Haram in his book ‘’Sunrise in Ayodhya: Nationhood in Our Times.' In it, he wrote that ‘classical Hinduism known to sages and saints is being pushed aside by robust version of Hindutva, by all standards a political version similar to the jihadist Islam of groups like ISIS and Boko Haram of recent years .’
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