By IANS,
New Delhi : The Congress Tuesday defended Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde’s “Hindu terrorism” and “saffron terrorism” comments terming them as inadvertent, and added that terror had no religion or colour.
“Sometimes, people utter words which they do not mean…no Congress leader would say such things intentionally,” party’s chief spokesperson Janardan Dwivedi told reporters here.
“This controversy should end now,” he added.
Shinde had referred to “Hindu terrorism” and “saffron terrorism” during the Congress conclave in Jaipur Sunday.
Dwivedi said that “terrorism has no colour and no religion”.
“As far as saffron colour is concerned, how can we have an objection with it? During our independence struggle, saffron was the symbol of sacrifice. It is therr in our national as well as party flag,” said Dwivedi.
External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid has backed Shinde’s claim, saying that the statement was “based on facts” as revealed by investigating agencies.
The Bharatiya Janata Party has reacted very strongly to Shinde’s statement and demanded he be sacked from the union cabinet. It has also sought an apology from Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Congress chief Sonia Gandhi.