Comparing Hindutva to ISIS factually wrong: Azad

Comparing Hindutva to ISIS factually wrong: Azad
Ghulam Nabi Azad and Salman Khurshid. Source: IANS

New Delhi, Nov 11 (IANS) After a controversy broke out over remarks made by senior Congress leader Salman Khurshid in his new book 'Sunrise Over Ayodhya: Nationhood in Our Times', the Congress seems to have gone into a damage control mode with former Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha, Ghulam Nabi Azad, criticising the comparison drawn in the book between ISIS and Hindutva.

A passage titled 'The Saffron Sky' from Khurshid's book read: "Sanatan Dharma and classical Hinduism known to sages and saints were being pushed aside by a 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."

Azad said in statement, "We do not agree with Hindutva as political ideology distinct from composite culture of Hinduism, but comparing Hindutva with ISIS and Jehadi Islamist is factually wrong and an exaggeration."

Meanwhile, Vineet Jindal, a Delhi-based lawyer, on Thursday filed a complaint with the police against Khurshid for the remarks made in his book, demanding an FIR ne lodged against Khurshid under Sections 153, 153A, 298 and 505(2) of the Indian Penal Code.