Former Union Minister and Congress leader, Salman Khurshid recently found his house in Nanital, burnt in flames. The incident occurred on Monday amidst the controversies surrounding his remarks on Hindutva in his new book “Sunrise Over Ayodhya: Nationhood in Our Times”. He took to Facebook to share videos and images of the house burnt in fire.
In the visuals shared by Mr Khurshid, the house could be seen under tall flames, charred doors and shattered window panes. Along with two men who were trying to douse the fire by throwing water. In the post, he said that, “”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?”
He further commented that the work done by “hooligans” is “despicable”. But it is not related to Hinduism. He said that there are micreaants in every religion and some may be worse than others.
“ This is about abhorrent behaviour. And we all know who react more abhorrently when insulted.”
Khurshid shared more pictures of the house showing the broken windows. In another post, he said “so such is debate now. Shame is too ineffective a word. Besides I still hope that we can reason together one day and agree to disagree if not more.”
Talking to the media, he said that people like these do not belong to the Hindu religion. He added that the Hindu religion is a beautiful religion and has give a “fantastic culture” to the country.
“This attack is not on me but on the Hindu religion,” Khurshid said.
DIG Neelesh Anand informed that the a case has been registered against 21 people in connection with the incident along with Rakesh Kapil. He informed that strict action will be taken against the accused.
Meanwhile, the Congress leader and MP Shashi Tharoor also criticized the incident. He further noted that the increasing levels of intolerance in the politics should be denounced by the people in power.
This comes days after, Salman Khurshid’s book’s launch. The book is seen to be an attack on Hinduism. 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.”
Many people have understood this as an exaggeration for comparing Hinduism with the Islamic terrorist groups. However, Mr Khurshid has responded that we was not comparing but rather stating a similarity between the same.
