'Nothing Wrong in What I said': K'taka Congress Leader Sticks to His Take on 'Hindu' Word After Triggering Row

A day after his remarks on the word ‘Hindu’ stirred a controversy, former Karnataka Minister and Congress working president Satish Jarkiholi has stuck to his claim, maintaining that there was “nothing wrong” in what he said.

The 60-year-old leader had said that the term “Hindu” does not belong to India, as it has Persian roots and said its meaning is actually “horrible.” Speaking at an event held in Karnataka’s Belagavi district, he claimed that people will be ashamed to know the meaning of word.

“There is nothing wrong in what I said. There are hundreds of records about how this Persian word (Hindu) came,” Jarkiholi said in a video statement on Tuesday, NDTV reported.

“This has been mentioned in Swamy Dayanand Saraswati’s book ‘Satyarth Prakash’, Dr GS Patil’s book ‘Basava Bharatha’ and Bal Gangadhar Tilak’s ‘Kesari’ newspaper as well. These are just 3-4 examples, there are many such articles available on Wikipedia or any website, you should please read it,” he added.

Jarkiholi remarks has drawn reactions across the political spectrum, with BJP calling it an attempt to provoke the Hindu population, and Congress terming it as “unfortunate.”

Senior Congress leader Randeep Surjewala condemned Jarkiholi’s remarks on behalf of the party. He defended Hinduism saying its a way of life and a civilisational reality. Congress built India to respect every religion, belief and faith, he said.

“The statement attributed to Satish Jarkiholi is deeply unfortunate & deserves to be rejected. We condemn it unequivocally,” he said in a tweet.

Senior BJP leader Shehzad Poonwalla took to Twitter to slam the remarks made by Jarkiholi and said the video provokes and insults Hindus.

“This is not a Sanyog but a Votebank Ka Udyog. From Hindu terror to Opposing Ram Mandir to Linking Gita with Jihad,” he tweeted.

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