Wrong to link religion with terrorism: Venkaiah

In a change of heart, which may surprise many, senior BJP leader M Venkaiah Naidu has slammed those linking terror with religion.

In a change of heart, which may surprise many, senior BJP leader M Venkaiah Naidu has slammed those linking terror with religion, arguing that the commonsensical use of terms like “Islamic terrorism” ends up strengthening stereotypes. “Terrorists have no religion. Islam, like all other religions, doesn’t sanction violence. The usage of term ‘Islamic terrorism’ in everyday parlance, as also in the media, however, conveys something entirely different,” he told ‘The Indian Express’.

While many in the BJP are known to believe in the “all Muslims may not be terrorists, but all terrorists are invariably Muslims” dictum, the former BJP president said: “Muslims opted for India out of their love for this land during Partition. Arguments like these don’t do justice to them at all.”

It is a rare instance when a mainline BJP leader has questioned the stereotypes in the discourse on terror. BJP president Rajnath Singh, for instance, reiterated on Sunday the need for a stringent anti-terror law. In his recent interventions, party general secretary Arun Jaitley, on the other hand, has expressed concern over the new phenomenon of “home-grown terror” besides the relatively “well-off, educated youth” taking to terror.

Asked about this sudden shift in the BJP’s well-known stance on the issue, Venkaiah said: “Terrorists have no religion. Ninety-five per cent of the arrested Naxalites happen to be Hindus. Do we ever call them Hindu terrorists? Some parties have tried hard to link terror with certain religions so as to use certain communities as vote banks. We must not fall into their trap. At the same time, however, we must not be blind to the danger posed by international terrorist organisations feeding on religion.”

On another piece of conventional wisdom in the BJP, borrowed from the Republican jargon, that every single blast ends up shoring up the BJP’s electoral fortunes, Venkaiah said: “This almost suggests that we would like to have more blasts. The blasts taking place here with a frightening regularity show how inept the UPA Government has been in managing the country’s internal security. This is what we are telling the people.”

On why shouldn’t the same logic be applied to Jamia Millia Islamia whose vice-chancellor Prof Mushirul Hasan has come under a scathing attack from the BJP for offering legal help to a couple of students alleged to have a hand in the Delhi blasts, Venkaiah said: “Is this the responsibility of a public-funded university? Would they have taken the same stand if the students had a Bajrang Dal or Naxalite background? The statement made by Union HRD Minister Arjun Singh in this regard, thus, is an anti-national demand of the highest order.”