New Delhi: Despite being isolated in the Rajya Sabha on the 'saffron terror' issue, the BJP continued to target Home Minister P Chidambaram for his remarks and asked him not to link religion with terrorism.
BJP spokesperson Rajiv Pratap Rudy told reporters outside Parliament that terror should not be linked with any religion and that it was most unfortunate that the Home Minister of the country kept making such statements. He said the Home Minister was generalising the issue of terror to brand a community.
BJP today found itself isolated in the Upper House in its protest against Chidambaram's statement on rise in 'saffron terrorism', with Left and other opposition parties joining hands with Congress to target the main opposition.
When the House re-assembled at Zero Hour after two adjournments on the same issue, Brinda Karat (CPI-M) contested Leader of the Opposition Arun Jaitley's remark that he represents a large section of the House in speaking against Chidambaram's views about saffron terror.
"He is certainly not (representing the whole House)," she said in the Rajya Sabha adding that Jaitley could have spoken on behalf of his party. Karat told reporters outside the House that this was not a question of semantics.
The issue was about groups claiming to be functioning in the name of Hindutva or using the word Hindu or Hindutva in describing themselves were accused of committing acts of terror, including bomb blasts at masjids, she said.
"When the Leader of the Opposition (in Rajya Sabha) makes a statement, surely the nation can expect that he should condemn those acts and say he condemn those operating in the name of Hindutva as they have nothing to do about that religion. "Instead of saying that to defend it and making it a matter of semantics is not a symbol of nationalism," the Left leader added.
LJP leader Ram Vilas Paswan asked the government to take strict action against groups involved in terror activities and said the RSS was the fountainhead of such outfits.
He also criticised the security agencies for rushing to implicate youths from the Muslim community whenever a terror attack took place and asked them show restraint.
Chidambaram had said a new phenomenon of "saffron terrorism" involved in many bomb blasts has been uncovered.
His comments came against the backdrop of investigators finding links between Hindu extremist outfits and at least five bomb blasts in recent years - at Hyderabad's Mecca Masjid, at Ajmer, Goa, Malegaon in Maharashtra and Modasa in Gujarat. Ansari said a discussion internal security was slated during the current session and these issues could be raised then. But as members continued with their protests, he adjourned the House till 1200 hours. PTI
