The Nainital home of Congress leader Salman Khurshid was attacked and set on fire on Monday, days after his new book on Ayodhya set a controversy by stating a similarity between “Hindutva” and radical Islamist groups.
Visuals shared by Mr Khurshid on Facebook show tall flames, burned doors and broken window panes at his Nainital home.
Sharing the visuals, the Congress leader said in a post, “I hoped to open these doors to my friends who have left this calling card. Am I still wrong to say this cannot be Hinduism?”
Later, Salman Khurshid described, ANI reports, this attack is ‘not on me but on Hindu religion’.
Salman Khurshid, a former Union Minister, has been under the spotlight ever since the launch of his new book, ”Sunrise Over Ayodhya: Nationhood in Our Times”. At the centre of the controversy is a passage that reads, “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.”
Hitting out, the BJP said Mr Khurshid’s remark has hurt sentiments of Hindus and alleged that the Congress is resorting to “communal politics” to pursue Muslim votes.
Soon after, Congress former chief Rahul Gandhi differentiated Hindutva and Hinduism saying, both are two different ideologies. Beating or killing of Sikh and Muslim is Hindutva; Hinduism not.
Mr Khurshid also faced some criticism from within his party, surprisingly from the senior Muslim leader in the party, Gulam Nabi Azad stating drawing a parallel between Hindutva and Islamist groups is “exaggeration.”
