Ghulam Nabi Azad takes on Salman Khurshid's 'factually wrong' Hindutva-ISIS comparison

Senior Congress Leader and former J&K CM Ghulam Nabi Azad on Thursday said that he disagrees with his party colleague Salman Khurshid who recently compared Hindutva to radical jihadist groups like ISIS and Boko Haram in his new book on the Ayodhya verdict, calling it 'factually wrong' and 'exaggeration."

In an official statement which he also tweeted, Ghulam Nabi Azad said, "We may not agree with Hindutva as a political ideology distinct from composite culture of Hinduism, but comparing Hindutva with ISIS and Jihadist Islam is factually wrong and an exaggeration."

On page number 113 of his new book 'Ayodhya', Khurshid has written, "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."

BJP lambasts Khurshid over his Hindutva to ISIS comparison 

Reacting to Khurshid's statement, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) national spokesperson Gaurav Bhatia on Wednesday had said, "This reflects the true mindset of Congress; they try to legitimise the radical elements of ISIS by creating an artificial equivalence with Hindus."

On Tuesday, Khurshid had said that it was his responsibility to explain SC's verdict to whom he was once associated. "People used to think that it will take 100 years for the verdict to come. After the verdict, people started giving opinions perhaps without reading it or understanding that what, why or how did Supreme Court give the judgement," the Congress leader said.

While speaking to Republic on Wednesday, Khurshid explained as to why he compared Hindutva with ISIS & Boko Haram, and stated, "What should I compare what they (BJP) do with? With Hitler? I have not compared it with Hitler. Because that would mean taking it too far. But if they believe that what I have said is wrong, they must tell me, why? There is something wrong with people who misuse Islam, then why can't I say that something is wrong with people who misuse Hinduism? Do they have a monopoly on Hinduism? They are rather destroying it. That is why I compared them to ISIS and Boko Haram."

In a landmark judgement on November 9, 2019, the Supreme Court had permitted the construction of Ram temple in Ayodhya at a site where the Babri Masjid once stood. A five-judge Constitution bench presided over by then CJI Ranjan Gogoi had also told the Centre to give a substitute five-acre land to the Sunni Central Waqf Board for building a new mosque at an alternate location.