New Delhi: The BJP on Wednesday lashed out at Congress MP Imran Masood for describing Delhi blast accused Dr Umar Muhammad as a “misguided youth”, calling the remarks “unfortunate and concerning”.
The Congress, meanwhile, stood by Masood’s comments and reiterated that no religion endorses acts of terror.
Masood’s statement came after a video surfaced in which Umar justified suicide attacks as a “martyrdom operation — as known in Islam”.
Masood countered the claim, saying suicide attacks are “haram” in Islam and argued that Umar carried out the Red Fort car blast only because he was a “misguided youth”.
His remarks triggered a sharp backlash from the BJP, which accused the Congress of attempting to “justify” the terror attack that killed at least 13 people and injured several others.
Speaking to IANS, BJP spokesperson Rohan Gupta said, “It is extremely unfortunate and concerning that some political parties in the country are still trying to gain political mileage from this issue. On one hand, they say terrorism has no religion, and on the other hand, a few leaders are attempting to justify the acts of terrorists who kill innocent people. They should be ashamed.”
“Congress MP made a similar statement yesterday, and before that, Robert Vadra had also said during the Pahalgam incident that such attacks happen because Muslims are being oppressed. What kind of politics is this?” he questioned.
Gupta added that a few individuals engaging in terror were damaging the image of the entire Muslim community and should face strict action.
BJP spokesperson Altaf Thakur also targeted the Congress over Masood’s remarks and asserted that Umar was not misguided but “radicalised”.
Speaking to IANS, Thakur said, “Whether it is Jammu and Kashmir or any other part of the country, Congress has always supported terrorism. Especially in J&K, Congress has backed terrorism. How can they say he is misguided? I want to tell the Congress leaders that he became a doctor with the country’s money, and then they are claiming he was misguided?”
“He was not misguided but radicalised. He was told he would get 72 ‘hoorain’. One gets ‘hoorain’ only if they do good work, pray with an honest heart, and help the poor. Why are Kashmiri people being lured by this concept? Congress only helps in furthering radicalisation by making such statements,” the BJP spokesperson further added.
The Congress, however, dismissed the criticism and backed Masood’s stance.
Congress spokesperson Surendra Rajput told IANS, “Certainly, any person who truly understands their religion and follows the right path cannot carry out such acts of terrorism. Imran Masood is absolutely right.”
Rajput also drew parallels with other forms of “extremism” and said those involved in harming other religions are equally “misguided youth”.
“The truth is that those who engage in terrorism do not understand their own religion, which is why they move toward extremism. Those who carry out bomb blasts, those who commit such cowardly acts anywhere, those who harm another person’s religion, those who search for temples beneath others’ mosques, those who try to hoist flags on ‘mazaars’, and those who try to kill people in the name of cow protection are all misguided people. These are radical people from both sides, and radicalisation does not promote a religion but destroys it,” he added.
(IANS)
