Congress says govt trying to hide failures by raking ‘Hindu terrorism’

NEW DELHI: A day after Home Minister Rajnath Singh accused the previous UPA Government of weakening the fight against terror with its term “Hindu terror”, the Congress accused the government of using the reference to conceal its failures against extremism and polarise the nation.

Sushil Kumar Shinde, Ex-Home Minister

Aditi Tandon

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, August 1

A day after Home Minister Rajnath Singh accused the previous UPA Government of weakening the fight against terror with its term “Hindu terror”, the Congress accused the government of using the reference to conceal its failures against extremism and polarise the nation.

The Congress simultaneously distanced itself from the controversial “Hindu terror” phrase former Home Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde had used at the Jaipur Session of Congress in 2013 to describe the role of right-wing extremists in Mecca Masjid, Malegaon and Samjhauta Express attacks.

“The then Home Minister never made this (Hindu terror) reference in Parliament as Rajnath Singh has stated. He can face privilege proceedings for this. Our Home Minister had made the stated reference at party fora in order to educate the cadres about the fact that terrorists can’t be linked to a specific religion. The reference followed NIA revelations about people from other religions (read non-Muslims) being involved in Malegaon, Mecca Masjid and Samjhauta attacks. Rajnath has quoted the phrase out of context with intentions to polarise and divert people’s attentions from government’s failures on combating terror, a promise they made ahead of the LS polls,” Leader of Opposition in RS Ghulam Nabi Azad said today. He was speaking after meeting Congress chief Sonia Gandhi who is said to have taken an exception to government’s attack on “Hindu terror” in the LS yesterday.

Defending the party over disruptions over Home Minister’s statement on Gurdaspur attack in the RS, Azad said: “The Congress wasn’t interested in lectures on terror from a party which had, during its rule, released dreaded terrorists in Kandahar.” It went to the extent of alleging today that the government “was using debate on terror as an excuse to break the prevailing logjam in Parliament”.

Azad said: “Why should we pick and choose on this issue? We want a comprehensive debate on terror, including strikes in the northeast, J&K and other areas, not in Dinanagar alone. ”