Sushilkumar Shinde regrets ‘saffron terror’ remark

published on February 20, 2013

New Delhi: Under attack from BJP, Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde today issued a statement on the eve of Budget session of Parliament, expressing regret over his “Hindu terror” remark and saying his comments had been misunderstood.

Shinde, who is also Leader of the Lok Sabha and faced the prospect of boycott by BJP, underlined that he had no intention to link terrorism with religion or political organisations.

“My statement given in Jaipur last month has created a misunderstanding. It has been understood to mean that I was linking terrorism to a particular religion and was accusing certain political organisations of being involved in organising terror camps.

“I had no intention to link terror to any religion. There is no basis for suggesting that terror can be linked to organisations mentioned in my brief speech in Jaipur.

“Since controversy has been created on account of my statement, I am issuing this clarification and expressing regret to those who felt hurt by my statement,” he said.

The Home Minister has been under severe attack from BJP which had promised to rake up the issue in the Budget session beginning tomorrow. ”I will continue to perform my duties to the best of my ability to ensure that harmony is maintained in the social fabric of India,” Shinde said.