Chidambaram warns police chiefs against 'saffron terror'

Home Minister P Chidambaram spoke out again against "saffron terrorism" on Tuesday. Chidambaram mentioned saffron terror while reminding his audience the terror threat had not gone away. HT reports.

Home Minister P Chidambaram spoke out again against "saffron terrorism" on Tuesday.

HT Image

"There is the recently uncovered phenomenon of saffron terrorism that has been implicated in many bomb blasts," he said, addressing a conference of police chiefs from different states.

Chidambaram mentioned saffron terror while reminding his audience the terror threat had not gone away.

"There is no let up in the attempts to radicalise young men and women," he said.

Predictably riled, the BJP was quick to respond. BJP spokes-man Rajiv Pratap Rudy said Chidambaram needed an excuse to divert the attention since the country was "witnessing a lot of chaos".

"Terrorism cannot be attached to any religion," Rudy said.

The home minister's comments come in the backdrop of investigators finding clear links between Hindu extremist outfits and at least five bomb blasts in recent years: at Hyderabad's Mecca Masjid, at Ajmer, Goa, Malegaon in Maharashtra and Modasa in Gujarat.

Chidambaram also hoped to reach out to protesters in the Kashmir Valley, and lamented the Maoists had not come up with a credible response to the offer for dialogue.