Salman Khurshid’s Nainital Home Set On Fire Amid ‘Hindutva’ Row, Cong Leader Says ‘This Can’t Be Hinduism’

Salman Khurshid was surrounded by controversy over his book 'Sunrise Over Ayodhya' where he reportedly compared Hindutva to terror outfits ISIS and Boko Haram.

New Delhi: Some unidentified people on Monday vandalised the house of former Union Minister and Congress leader Salman Khurshid. This comes as the senior Congress leader was surrounded by controversy over his book 'Sunrise Over Ayodhya' where he reportedly compared Hindutva to terror outfits ISIS and Boko Haram. As per reports, some people pelted stones and set fire to Khurshid's Nainital residence.

A man identified as Rakesh Kapil and 20 others have been booked. "Strict action will be taken against perpetrators," DGI (Kumaun) Neelesh Anand told ANI.

Salman Khurshid took to Facebook to share videos and pictures of the incident and wrote in the caption of his post: "I hoped to open these doors to my friends who have left this calling card. Am I still wrong to say this cannot be Hinduism?"

"So such is debate now. Shame is too ineffective a word. Besides I still hope that we can reason together one day and agree to disagree if not more," Khurshid added.

Reacting to the unfortunate incident, Congress MP from Thiruvananthapuram Shashi Tharoor tweeted, "This is disgraceful @salman7khurshid is a statesman who has done India proud in international forums &always articulated a moderate, centrist, inclusive vision of the country domestically."

"The mounting levels of intolerance in our politics should be denounced by those in power," he added.

Putting across his point on the difference between Hinduism and Hindutva and launching a sharp attack on BJP, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi had recently said that Hinduism and Hindutva are not the same and claimed that RSS and BJP's 'hateful ideology' has eclipsed the 'affectionate and nationalistic' ideology of Congress.