The BJP on Friday hit out at the Congress party after its leader Rahul Gandhi sought to distinguish between ‘Hinduism’ and ‘Hindutva’, two terminologies that have come to define and underline the RSS and Sangh Parivar ideological matrix.
The development came on a day when another Congress stalwart Salman Khurshid’s book on Hindutva and Ayodhya stirred a hornet’s nest by likening forces of ‘Hindutva’ to the dreaded terror outfit ISIS.
The book by the senior Congress leader sparked off a surge of protests by the BJP workers in Uttar Pradesh and other states which experts reportedly predicted could have far-reaching implications for the Congress ahead of the ensuing Uttar Pradesh assembly polls.
Slamming Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi and Salman Khurshid, BJP national spokesperson Sambit Patra launched an all-out attack on them alluding to their ‘pathological hatred’ towards Hinduism.
Patra said Congress was wont to flay Hinduism and its culture at any given opportunity. He said it was a part of Congress ‘character’ to target Hinduism and spread ‘hatred’ in the society.
“It is in the character of the Congress and the Gandhi family to attack Hinduism at every opportunity… What they say is not a coincidence but an experiment. And the headmaster of this experimental lab is Rahul Gandhi,” Patra said, alleging, “There is a pathological hatred for Hinduism among Congress leaders… and they get traction for this from the Gandhi family.”
In response to a reporter’s question on Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s remarks on Hinduism, the BJP spokesperson asked, “Can they talk on similar lines about other religions? Of course not. They cannot talk of similar issues in any other religion. The question is why do they always talk ill of Hinduism?” Patra further asked. He also named other Congress leaders like Shashi Tharoor and P Chidambaram for using terms like ‘saffron terror’. He alleged that these Congress leaders make such comments because they were asked to do so by Rahul Gandhi.