Shivraj Patil clarifies Krishna-Arjun jihad comment, says: ‘I only asked this'
Congress leader Shivraj Patil said he did not say Krishna taught jihad lessons to Arjun. "I asked will you call Krishna’s lesson to Arjun jihad?" he said. The BJP said he only defended his statement instead of issuing an apology.
Former minister and veteran Congress leader Shivraj Patil on Friday clarified his 'jihad' remark and said what he meant when he said Krishna taught lessons of jihad to Arjun. "Will you call Krishna's lessons to Arjun jihad? No. That's what I was saying," Patil can be seen clarifying in a video released by news agency ANI, after scolding the reporters. "This jihad's message is what you are saying," he said and then stopped a journalist who asked a question. He also explained what jihad is according to the Hindu religion and said killing Mahatma Gandhi will be considered jihad.
Holding Quran Sharif, Patil said, "This is Quran Sharif. You listen first. It says God is one and it has no form. Christianity and Judaism also say the same thing that God is there but there can't be any idol. Gita also says God has no colour and no form."
A massive row broke out following Shivraj Patil's comment after the BJP criticised the Krishna-Arjun jihad link and said Congress has been showing their Hindu hatred steadily -- first by coining the phrase 'Hindu terror', then by opposing Ram Mandir and comparing Hindutva with ISIS.
The BJP said the clarification is only a defence of what he said. "After comparing Shri Krishna’s message to Arjun- Holy Geeta with Jihad now Shivraj Patil is defending his statement with excuses rather than outright apology. This shows the statement was not a Sanyog but done for a Votebank prayog on instructions of Congress! Hence they won’t act," Shehzad Poonawalla said.
'Killing Gandhi is jihad'
As Shivraj Patil explained what he meant by his statement, he said in the Hindu religion jihad is killing a good person. "If you kill Mahatma Gandhi that is jihad," he said.
What Shivraj Patil said on Krishna, Arjun and Gita
At a book launch event, Patil said it's said there is a lot of discussion on jihad in Islam. "Are we not working on jihad -- what we are doing in Parliament? And when does jihad come? When after all efforts, someone does not understand the clean ideas, then it is said that one can use force. And this is not only in Quran. This is there in Mahabharata under Gita where Krishna gives jihad lessons to Arjun," he said.
"Even after explaining everything, someone is not understanding and is coming with weapons, you can't just flee. And you can neither call it jihad nor call it wrong. This is what one must understand. You can't make people understand with weapons in hand. That's wrong," Patil said as he talked about Mohsina Kidwai's book.
