Narendra Modi's refusal to wear skull cap insult to Islam: Imam

NEW DELHI: Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi had relied on the familiar tokenism - presence of people in their religious attire - at his sadbhavana fast to drive home his point that he had the endorsement of all sections. But this landed him in trouble when his refusal to wear a skull cap, presented by an Imam, was described as an "insult to Islam."

Sayed Imam Shahi Saiyed, a cleric of a Dargah in Pirana village on the outskirts of the Ahmedabad, had on Sunday gone up to stage to greet Modi at the Gujarat University Convention hall.

The Imam offered Narendra Modi a skull cap, but the Gujarat chief minister politely refused to wear it, asking him to offer a shawl instead. The Imam did so, and Modi was seen accepting it.

But as images of Modi's refusal to sport the skull cap flashed on television screens, the Imam, who appeared to have a cordial talk with the chief minister on Sunday, hit out at him.

"Narendra Modi's refusal to accept the cap is not my insult but an insult of Islam," agency reports quoting Saiyed said.

"I had come to Ahmedabad after hearing about the Sadbhavna Mission fast and went to the stage to felicitate Modi. When I offered him the cap he told me that he would not wear it. He might have thought that wearing a skull cap will dent his image...," he said.

BJP spokesman Syed Shahnawaz Hussain tried to downplay the issue saying that skull cap is part of a religious attire and not a matter of politics. But Congress used it to ridicule the chief minister. "It was only expected from him," Congress spokesperson Renuka Choudhary said here.