Katiyar now claims he did not incite violence in J

New Delhi, Jun 10 (UNI) Seeking to distance himself from his reported statement promising rewards for people who kill terrorists in Jammu and Kashmir, BJP General Secretary Vinay Katiyar today expressed regrets about the controversial speech, claiming he did not seek to incite violence or violate the constitution and laws.

Mr Katiyar and former Delhi Chief Minister Sahib Singh Verma,who were reported to have offered funds from the BJP to provide funds for any villager killing a terrorist, told reporters here that the reports of their speech, made on thursday, seemed to be rendering a meaning they did not intend.

''The BJP has only sought creation of Village Defence Committees (VDC) to take on terrorists. The members of these VDCs are civilians from the villages who are organised to defend and protect their people from the terrorists and kill them if necessary. They are armed and funded by government... we were only talking of supporting these efforts from the party,'' they said.

Noting that it was not necessary that the BJP would give funds to the villagers or support the families affected by the terrorists killing, Mr Verma said he had talked of helping the villagers who kill the terrorists. ''There are many organisations and people in the country who were willing to extend monetary assistance to the people and families fighting terrorists,'' he said, adding that former Youth Congress Chief Maninder Singh Bitta headed one such organisation, the Anti-Terrorist Front.

''If there is an impression other than what we intended, we express regrets in view of the sensitiveness of the JK situation, Mr Katiyar, who had met BJP president Rajnath Singh, said.

Asked to react to the JK police filing an FIR against the two leaders for inciting violence, Mr Verma said all the speeches were on the tape and ''if there was anything objectionable, there was no need for them to wait for over 24 hours before acting.'' Mr Katiyar said some JK Ministers and legislators faced allegations of having links with terrorists and the CM himself should take the initiative to clear the situation. ''People expected a firm response from the government after the people in Doda district were gunned down by terrorists. On the other hand, the BJP had to wake him up to the realities by organising protests,'' he charged.

The BJP leaders' clarification came in the wake of protests from several quarters about Mr Katiyar's June eight speech at Jammu where the BJP activists from different parts of the country converged to offer Dharna and protest against the killings of Hindus in the sensitive border areas.

UNI MCN VD HT2012