Pakistani terror groups celebrating govt's comment on RSS, BJP: Ravi Shankar Prasad

New Delhi: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Tuesday slammed External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid for defending Home Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde's comments on home grown terrorism. "Yesterday, Pakistani terrorist groups celebrated the comment of Home Minister. Does Salman Khurshid support these groups and is he strengthening these groups? The BJP is deeply pained by the statement of the Salman Khurshid and its deeply regrettable," BJP spokesperson Ravi Shankar Prasad said.

Prasad added, "Remarkable achievement of India's diplomatic efforts is undermined by these comments. The BJP takes serious objection to repeated utterances of senior ministers including the external affairs minister. If he is supporting the line of Shinde, then they are seeking to give legitimacy and deep sense of justification to what the terrorists and their patrons are stating in Pakistan."

Earlier in the day, Khurshid had backed Shinde on his statement on Hindu terrorism by saying it was based "entirely on facts" made available by investigative agencies. He, however, said that terror has no religion and colour. "Our stated position is fully shared by the Home Minister. His statements are based on facts," Khurshid had said.

Khurshid had also added that any form of violence was not good for India. "Any form of violence by extremists of any kind, irrespective of religion is not good for India," Khurshid said. "We should not be distracted by a phrase here and there. Terror does not have a religion. It should not have a colour. Those are the facts available to the home ministry," he added.

This came after the BJP demanded that Shinde be sacked for alleging involvement of the BJP and the RSS in terror activities and using the phrase 'Hindu terror'. Shinde had said, "Training camps of both BJP and RSS are promoting Hindu terrorism...whether it is Samjhauta blast or Mecca Masjid blast or Malegaon blast, they plant bombs and blame it on the minorities."