BJP wants Shinde sacked as Saeed stokes fire

The Sangh Parivar on Monday upped the ante against Union home minister Sushil Kumar Shinde for his ‘Hindu terror’ remarks and demanded that he be sacked from the Union Cabinet. The RSS too dubbed Shinde a “darling of real terrorists” on a day when in Pakistan, LeT founder and Mumbai attacks mastermind Hafiz Saeed said the Indian “propaganda” against Pakistani organisations stood “exposed”.

Demanding an apology from Congress president Sonia Gandhi and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and announcing a day-long nationwide stir on Jan 24, BJP chief spokesperson Ravi Shankar Prasad said: “Shinde is a lightweight minister, in habit of making lightweight remarks. But since he made those insulting remarks in the presence of the Prime Minister, they need to be taken seriously.” Shinde, during the Jaipur Chintan Shivir, had accused BJP and RSS of conducting terror training camps to spread Hindu terror.

Prasad also alleged that Shinde’s remarks would give an opportunity to Pakistan for using it against them. RSS spokesperson tweeted concurrence: “Today, Jamat-ud-Dawa etc congratulated Shinde. Now he has become the darling of real terrorists.”

In fact, Shinde’s statement gave JuD leader Hafiz Saeed ammo to fire.  Lauding Shinde for speaking the truth, he said the world must take notice and declare India a state that is supporting terror on its soil.

Posting Shinde’s Shivir speech on a social networking site, Saeed tweeted: “World should take immediate notice in an unbiased manner and ban these terrorist organizations - RSS, VHP. Pakistan rightly said that conditions are not feasible for giving MFN to India that has admitted terrorism infrastructure on its soil.” Rubbing it in further, he posted on twitter: “We consider this (Shinde’s remarks) a help from Allah for Pakistan which is always alleged by India for terrorism.”