No word like 'Hindutva' in my dictionary, says Digvijaya Singh

Bhopal, Apr 20: Senior Congress leader Digvijaya Singh claimed on Saturday that the BJP made the person who used the term "Hindu terror" in official parlance a Union minister.

He was apparently referring to R K Singh, a Union home secretary during the UPA regime who later joined the BJP and became a minister.

The BJP has often targeted Digvijay Singh for 'tarnishing the Hindu community' by using the term Hindu or saffron terror.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi Friday defended the BJP's decision to field Pragya Singh Thakur, Malegaon blast accused, from Bhopal Lok Sabha seat, saying it was a symbolic answer to all those who falsely bracketed the rich Hindu civilisation as "terrorist". Modi was apparently referring to Digvijaya, who is the Congress' candidate from Bhopal.

"I think they do not have the knowledge of Hindu civilisation. The person who, as home secretary, issued a statement with the word Hindu terror was given Lok Sabha ticket by the BJP and was made a Union minister," Singh told reporters here.

"Will (BJP chief) Amit Shah speak about it?" the former Madhya Pradesh chief minister asked. Amid the political row over the term Hindu terrorism, the Congress had pointed earlier that it was used by Union minister R K Singh when he was a home secretary.

Digvijaya also said the word Hindutva did not exist for him. "Why do you use the word Hindutva? The word does not exist in my dictionary," he said. The Congress leader refused to comment on the Election Commission's notice to Thakur over her remark that former Maharashtra ATS chief Hemant Karkare died in the 26/11 Mumbai terror attack because she had cursed the police officer for torturing her during the blast probe.

"Ask the EC. Why are you asking me? I don't want to get into it," the Congress leader said.

Asked if he was now in "silent mode", Singh, known for kicking off a controversy with his provocative statements, replied amid laughter, "Have I taken a contract to create news?" Interestingly, Singh, whose outlandish theories about the Mumbai attack and the Batla House encounter have incurred him the wrath of the right wing, has desisted from making any comment on Thakur's comment on Karkare.

PTI