Not justifying terror, merely quoted NIA: Shakeel Ahmed on IM row

Clarifying his comments regarding the creation of Indian Mujahideen, Shakeel Ahmed said that he was in no way justifying terror.

Zee Media Bureau

New Delhi: Clarifying his comments regarding the creation of Indian Mujahideen, Congress leader Shakeel Ahmed said on microblogging site Twitter on Monday that he was in no way justifying terror. Ahmed tweeted today saying that he had merely quoted the NIA. "No sane person can justify terror acts of IM or any other outfit.I simply mentioned NIA`s version in its chargesheet highlighted by media," he said. Yesterday the Congress leader had tweeted - "Indian Mujahideen (IM) was formed after the Gujarat riots, says NIA in its chargesheet. Even now BJP and RSS will not desist from their communal politics?" Hitting back, the BJP had said that the remarks were "stupid" and "reprehensible" as the Pakistan links of such outfits were well known and alleged that it was a "desperate" Congress which was actually trying to communalise the political scenario and playing with national security as it had "no answers for all the wrongs" it had done. "There is this competition among the various Congress spokespersons and leaders to deliberately communalise the country`s political scenario, because they have no answer to stinking corruption, malgovernance, price rice, unemployment, the general sense of suffering the people of India are having," Deputy Leader of BJP in Rajya Sabha Ravishankar Prasad said. "This competitive politics for vote bank to deliberately stoke communalism is reprehensible," he added. Prasad also said that there was peace in Gujarat for the last 10 years and Muslims were becoming prosperous in the state. However, Ahmed had stuck to his stand saying, "If the BJP foresake their communal politics, outfits like IM will cease to exist." Meanwhile, the Congress today disapproved of the remarks of Shakeel Ahmed and party MP Rashid Masood on Indian Mujahideen. "It is not the party line as of now," spokesperson Renuka Choudhary told reporters when asked about Ahmed`s tweet on the issue. Her response was the same to a question about Masood`s similar remarks.