Congress under BJP fire: Ghulam Nabi Azad must apologise for his remark on IS, RSS

You have knowingly or unknowingly given respectability to the Islamic State, Jaitley tells Azad.

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Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad speaks in the Rajya Sabha (Source: PTI)

Under attack for its stand on the nationalism debate, the BJP tried to turn the tables on the Congress Monday, seizing upon a speech over the weekend by Ghulam Nabi Azad in which the Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha is said to have equated the RSS with the Islamic State.

Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi, and later Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, attacked Azad in Rajya Sabha for his statement, and demanded an apology. Azad, who seemed to have anticipated such an attack, denied the charge and read out the relevant portion of his speech. “We oppose organisations like ISIS just as much as we oppose RSS. Where is the comparison? I have not said… Bring a privilege motion tomorrow… and try to get me out of Parliament if I have said that ISIS and RSS are the same. That is comparison,” Azad said, and offered to place a CD containing his speech on the table of the House, which he later did.

Azad’s speech was brought up by Naqvi while he was responding to concerns raised by other members over some remarks by RSS leaders regarding the reservation policy for weaker sections of society. Naqvi said the attempt to equate the RSS with ISIS was the “new secular formula of the grand old party (Congress)”.

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“This is the brand new formula of the grand old party to glorify terrorists… Glorify terrorists and attack nationalists… this will not be allowed. The Congress should apologise… for the manner in which they have equated RSS with a terrorist organisation like ISIS,” Naqvi said, amidst the din.

But Azad denied the claims of the minister and asked the government to bring a privilege motion against him in case there was anything wrong in what he was saying.

Jaitley intervened after Azad’s speech to say that though he respected the Congress leader a lot, he should have avoided such a comparison. “Everyone has an idea of what ISIS is. Today if there is threat to peace of the entire world, it is from ISIS. Aircraft, missiles, tanks… which publishes documents to say what treatment should be meted to followers of other religions, how women of different faith should be raped… they have that kind of philosophy… and to compare it with others and say that it is like any other organisation… I think you (Azad) have knowingly or unknowingly given respectability to ISIS. I think you should have avoided that,” Jaitley said.

Azad countered by saying this was a familiar strategy of BJP ahead of elections.

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