The BJP, however, immediately distanced itself from Naqvi’s views. “Those are his own views. As you express dissent on an issue, the language should be dignified. His (Naqvi’s) statement has gone beyond that. The BJP also believes that the protests only show that the present Government has not been able to come up with concrete anti-terror measures,” said BJP general secretary and head of party media cell Arun Jaitley.

Naqvi later clarified that he was only referring to a “small professional group of protesters who have a penchant of taking to streets at the drop of a hat”. The BJP leader was said to be specially perturbed by a journalist-turned-activist who has involved herself with many a case related to communal strife in Gujarat and elsewhere.

“Don’t target Pakistan; target the political class” is the mantra adopted by this particular NGO in their protests, ranging from Gujarat to the Mumbai attacks. I was only referring to them. We should unite in our war against terror and the Pak-sponsored attacks rather than waging a war against the democratic institutions. However, if the portrayal of my comments by the audio-visual media has hurt anyone, I would like to apologise,” Naqvi told The Indian Express.