Some people on Monday vandalized and set on fire the Nainital house of Congress leader and former Union Minister Salman Khurshid, amid criticism of the leader against his recent book in which he compared Hindutva with ISIS and Boko Haram.
Speaking on the matter, DGI (Kumaun) Neelesh Anand said, “Rakesh Kapil and 20 others have been booked. Strict action will be taken against perpetrators.”
Visuals shared by Mr Khurshid on Facebook show tall flames, charred doors and shattered window panes at his Nainital home. Two men are seen trying to douse the fire by throwing water.
Sharing the visuals, the Congress leader said in a post, “I hoped to open these doors to my friends who have left this calling card. Am I still wrong to say this cannot be Hinduism?”
“So such is the debate now. Shame is too ineffective a word. Besides I still hope that we can reason together one day and agree to disagree if not more,” he wrote in another post.
Reacting to the Incident , Khurshid told ANI that “I have said (in my book) that people who do such things don’t belong to Hindu religion . Hindu religion is a beautiful religion that has given a fantastic culture to this country and I’m proud of it . This attack is not on me but on Hindu religion”.
Congress leader and MP Shashi Tharoor slammed the incident. “This is disgraceful. @salman7khurshid is a statesman who has done India proud in international forums & always articulated a moderate, centrist, inclusive vision of the country domestically. The mounting levels of intolerance in our politics should be denounced by those in power.”
Mr Khurshid, a former Union Minister, has been under the spotlight ever since the launch of his new book, ”Sunrise Over Ayodhya: Nationhood in Our Times”. At the centre of the controversy is a passage that reads, “Sanatan Dharma and classical Hinduism known to sages and saints were being pushed aside by a robust version of Hindutva, by all standards a political version similar to the jihadist Islam of groups like ISIS and Boko Haram of recent years.”
