Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Thursday said that the Hindu community is peace leaving and Hindus generally do not contribute to rioting.
"Hindus are peace-loving. They do not indulge in rioting. Hindus as a community do not even believe in jihad. The Hindu community will never indulge in rioting," he said in an interview with NDTV.
His comments are construed as a brazen admission of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party's view on who propagates communal violence in the country.
On Shraddha Walkar-Aaftab Poonawala case
Sarma went on to say that in the Shraddha Walkar murder case, there is 'evidence' of love jihad. "I see it (ignoring love jihad) as a politics of appeasement by some. It is a concern for security of women. There is evidence of love jihad. Even in Aaftab Poonawala's polygraph test, it is said that he revealed his actions will take him to jannat. There are reports on it," he said.
"Love jihad" is a term used by right-wing groups and activists to allege a concerted effort by Muslim men to convert Hindu women to Islam through marriage.
The Delhi Police have arrested Walkar's live-in partner, Aaftab Amin Poonawala, who is accused of killing her. Poonawala (28) allegedly strangled Walkar in May this year and cut her body into 35 pieces which he kept in a fridge for almost three weeks at his residence in south Delhi's Mehrauli before dumping them across the national capital over several days past midnight.
Sarma backed the love jihad angle in the case, and opined that "For any Left-leaning person, it is a communal remark. But I said this in a national sentiment," NDTV reported.
'Will replicate post 2002 Gujarat in Assam'
When asked to comment on Union Home Minister Amit Shah's remarks on teaching "a lesson" to rioters in 2002, Sarma said that ""Post-2002, the Gujarat government took a series of actions to ensure peace in the state since then. There has been lasting peace in Gujarat. No curfews happen now."
"There has been peace since 2002 in Gujarat because of what the Gujarat government has done. Action has been taken against rioters. I have to ensure that there is peace in Assam too," he said.
Sarma reiterated that "Hindus normally don't contribute to riots," as per reports on NDTV.
