In a dramatic turn of events, veteran Congress leader Sushil Kumar Shinde, who served as the Union Home Minister in the UPA government, has admitted that it was “wrong” to use ‘saffron terror’ and falsely implicate Hindu dharma or any colour especially ‘Bhagwa’ (saffron) with terrorism.
It is pertinent to note that in a country where terrorists/criminals were seen as religion agnostic, the Congress party and its senior leaders particularly Digvijay Singh and Sushil Kumar Shinde had furthered the boogie of ‘Saffron/Hindu terror’. Ever since, the Congress party has been suffering a terrible fate for besmirching the Hindu community, furthering anti-Hindu campaigns and brandishing/leveling a section of the majority community as ‘terrorists’ solely for differing political ideology.
After suffering heavy political losses, now it seems that the Congress leader is expressing remorse for his past anti-Hindu remarks.
Recently in a conversation with Journalist turned YouTuber Shubhankar Mishra, Congress veteran Sushil Kumar Shinde seemingly apologetic, said that it was wrong to associate terrorism with saffron (Bhagwa) colour.
Question: Retirement के बाद आपको लगता है कि ‘भगवा आंतकवाद’ कहना ठीक था ?
Sushil Shinde : सच कहूं तो भगवा के आगे क्यों आंतकवाद लगाया मुझे नहीं पता। नहीं लगाना चाहिए था।#SushilShinde pic.twitter.com/qrxF6Z1WLF
— Shubhankar Mishra (@shubhankrmishra) October 18, 2024
Mishra asked, ‘Now that you have retired & when you look back, do you think that the term saffron terrorism was correct?
To which, Shinde replied, “Whatever came in the record, we had told that at that time. That too we told in our party, we did not tell in public that terrorism has happened and after that I have not spoken anywhere.”
Shubhankar pressed further asking, ‘Shivaji was also associated with saffron colour, then why saffron terrorism?
Shinde continued his reply saying, “I used the word saffron with terrorism, if you ask correctly, why did I use the word terrorism with saffron, we do not know. The word terrorism should not have been used with saffron.”
Intellectualising his remorseful U-turn concerning the Hindu community, he added, “There should not have been the term saffron terrorism. There is no terrorism in saffron, red, or white.”
The controversial episode
Notably, the controversial episode pertains to January 2013. In a bid to target BJP and RSS, Shinde had propagated the concocted theory on ‘Saffron terror’, which incidentally aptly captured the UPA government’s abject drive against Hindu activists and Nationalists like Colonel Purohit among others.
Addressing the Congress party’s ‘Chintan Shivir’, the then Home Minister Shinde mentioned ‘saffron terrorism’, which led to massive furor for equating and brazenly painting a community with the colour of terrorism.
Shinde had then said, “We are trying to bring peace in this country but we have received reports that whether it is Bharatiya Janata Party or Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, work is being done to promote Hindu terrorism in their training camps”, adding that they were watching it very closely.
He added, “Whether it is Samjhauta Express, Mecca Masjid or Malegaon blasts…. we will have to be very cautious about going there and planting bombs and then saying that it was done by people of the minority community.”
‘The word saffron terrorism was chosen carefully’
Journalist and author Rashid Kidwai has presented some candid facts about saffron terrorism with the clarification of UPA-era Union Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde on the issue, in his memoir ‘Five Decades in Politics’.
In Shinde’s memoir penned by Kidwai, Shinde had said, “I found the word ‘saffron terrorism’ in some secret documents prepared by the Union Home Ministry. If one looks at my statements given in the media, one will know that I had chosen the word ‘saffron terrorism’ very carefully.”
Shinde added, “I remember a media person had asked me ‘was it Hindu terrorism or saffron terrorism’. I replied that it was ‘saffron terrorism’.”
Back then, after facing massive backlash from BJP and RSS, Shinde had reportedly apologised for his ‘Saffron terrorism’ remark.
According to a report in Dainik Bhaskar, after facing mounting pressure, Shinde has said, “If my statement has hurt anyone’s sentiments, then I apologise for it. My intention was not to link terrorism to any religion.”
Shinde added, “I agree with my party’s opinion that terrorism has no colour.”