Digital Desk: Shivraj Patil, a former Union home minister, and senior
Congress politician sparked outrage on Thursday by drawing comparisons between
Hinduism and Islam, claiming that the term "jihad" (religious battle)
appears in both the Quran and the Bhagavad Gita.
Patil stated at an event that the Gita and the Quran mention using power
when someone fails to accept a clear point and that the message of jihad is
also conveyed in Christianity.
"Jihad is mentioned not just in the Quran. "A section of the
Gita in the Mahabharata also revealed Shri Krishna teaching Arjun jihad training,"
he claimed.
He was addressing the book launch for veteran Congress activist and former Union minister Mohsina
Kidwai.
The Bharatiya Janata
Party reacted angrily to Patil's claims, saying it is no surprise that such a
statement would come from someone in the Congress.
"This isn't
a'saiyog.' There is a 'vote bank ka proyog' and a 'vote bank ka udyog.'
"This is the same Congress party that created the terms 'Hindu terror' and saffron terror,'" BJP spokeswoman Shehzad Poonawalla wrote on Twitter,
adding that such remarks reflect the Congress' "anti-Hindu"
worldview.
Congress MP Shashi
Tharoor, who recently ran for the party's presidential nomination, also
attended the event. Farooq Abdullah, chairman of the Jammu & Kashmir
National Conference, and Congress leaders Mani Shankar Aiyar and Sushilkumar
Shinde were also present.
The event was also
attended by Congress MP Shashi Tharoor, who recently contested the party’s
presidential elections. Others present at the event were Jammu Kashmir National
Conference chief Farooq Abdullah, Congress leaders Mani Shankar Aiyar and
Sushilkumar Shinde.
