Salman Khurshid Sparks Controversy With Hindutva Remark In New Book

Picture courtesy PTI

New Delhi: Senior Congress leader Salman Khurshid has landed himself in a controversy by comparing Hindutva with radical Islamic groups like ISIS and Boko Haram in his new book.

Delhi-based lawyer Vivek Garg has filed a criminal complaint against Khurshid.

The BJP also demanded that Khurshid be sacked from the Congress and that Congress chief Sonia Gandhi give an explanation “if she respects Hindus”.

Shiv Sena too lashed out at Khurshid.

The book, ‘Sunrise Over Ayodhya: Nationhood in Our Times’, was launched on Wednesday and was attended by Congress leaders P Chidambaram and Digvijaya Singh among others.

“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,” one of the passages reads.

Amit Malviya, the BJP’s IT cell chief, tweeted: “Congress’s Salman Khurshid in his new book writes that Hindutva is similar to the jihadist Islamist groups like ISIS and Biko 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?”

BJP spokesperson Gaurav Bhatia said the book is hurting religious sentiments in the country. “Hinduism was compared to ISIS and Boko Haram. Why is the Congress party doing this while staying in India? Congress is weaving a web like a spider against Hindus… All this happens at the behest of Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi. Earlier, the term ‘Hindu terrorism’ was invented in the Congress office”.