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Gita teaches lessons of ‘jihad’ just like Islam: Congress veteran Shivraj Patil
Speaking at an event, Patil said the Gita and Quran mention that power can be used when someone fails to understand a clear idea, and that the message of jihad is also conveyed in Christianity
Former Union home minister and senior Congress leader Shivraj Patil on Thursday courted a huge controversy after drawing parallels between Hinduism and Islam by saying that one can find the mention of ‘jihad’ (religious war) not just in Quran, but also the Bhagavad Gita.
Speaking at an event, Patil said the Gita and Quran mention that power can be used when someone fails to understand a clear idea, and that the message of jihad is also conveyed in Christianity.
“Jihad is not only mentioned in Quran. The part of the Gita in Mahabharata also mentioned that Shri Krishna taught lessons of jihad to Arjun,” he said.
He was speaking at the launch event of veteran Congress leader and former Union minister Mohsina Kidwai’s biography.
The Bharatiya Janata Party reacted strongly to the claims made by Patil and said it is not surprising that such a statement has come from someone in the Congress.
“This is not a ‘saiyog’. It is the ‘vote bank ka proyog’ and a ‘vote bank ka udyog’. This is the same Congress party that coined the term ‘Hindu terror’ and ‘saffron terror’,” BJP spokesperson Shehzad Poonawalla said on Twitter, adding that such statements reflect the “anti-Hindu” mindset of the Congress.
The event was also attended by Congress MP Shashi Tharoor, who recently contested the party’s presidential elections. Others present at the event were Jammu Kashmir National Conference chief Farooq Abdullah, Congress leaders Mani Shankar Aiyar and Sushilkumar Shinde.
