On Thursday (October 20), Congress leader Shivraj Patil stirred the hornet’s nest after he claimed that the concept of ‘Jihad’ is a part of the Bhagavad Gita and that it was taught to Arjuna by Lord Krishna.
Patil, who served as the Union Home Minister between 2004-2008 in the Sonia, sorry, Manmohan-led UPA government, made the contentious claims in Delhi during the launch of the biography of Congress leader Mohsina Kidwai.
“There is a lot of discussion about Islam. And our work in the Indian Parliament is not about Jihad but ideals. Jihad is only evoked when all efforts, undertaken with a clear mind, fail,” he asserted.
The former Home Minister further alleged, “It is said that when all efforts fail, one can use power (Shakti) against the other.” Patil drew false equivalence between the Dharmic concept of Shakti and Jihad, a term used by Islamists to kill and maim non-Muslims across the globe.
#WATCH | It’s said there’s a lot of discussion on Jihad in Islam… Even after all efforts, if someone doesn’t understand clean idea, power can be used, it’s mentioned in Quran & Gita… Shri Krishna taught lessons of Jihad to Arjun in a part of Gita in Mahabharat: S Patil, ex-HM pic.twitter.com/iUvncFEoYB
— ANI (@ANI) October 20, 2022
“The concept of Jihad is not limited to the Quran but also the Bhagavad Gita, which is a part of Mahabharata,” he continued. The UPA-era Minister then went a step ahead and alleged that Lord Krishna taught about Jihad to Arjuna during the Dharamyudh between the Pandavas and Kauravas in Kurukshetra.
“Lord Krishna had taught Arjuna about Jihad (In Bhagwat Gita). And Jihad does not exist only in Hindu and Islamic scriptures. It is also present in the Holy text of Christians,” he insinuated.
Shivraj Patil then justified the concept of Jihad and said, “Despite trying your best, if someone approaches you with weapons, you cannot simply run away…You cannot call it wrong.”
Later, he tried to undo the damage by claiming that the use of force is not right. “Yes, one should not be using force to make someone understand anything. This is what Mohsina ji wrote in her book,” he concluded.
The outlandish claims by the UPA-era Minister have thrown the spotlight on the period during which Congress coined the term ‘saffron terror’ and tried to whitewash the crimes of Batla House terrorists.
