Patil take on Gita unacceptable: Congress

The Congress leadership on Friday termed as "unacceptable" party leader Shivraj Patil's controversial statement equating Jihad with the Bhagwat Gita.

After BJP lapped up the former Union Home Minister's comment to target the Congress, AICC spokesman Jairam Ramesh tweeted: "My senior colleague Shivraj Patil reportedly made some comments on the Bhagavad Gita that's unacceptable. Subsequently, he clarified. @INCIndia's stand is clear. Bhagavad Gita is a key foundational pillar of Indian civilisation. Here's an excerpt from Nehru's Discovery of India". The attached extract of Nehru's book showed the first Prime Minister narrating how he found the message of the Gita "is universal" and "not sectarian".

Patil triggered a row when he said at a function on Thursday that "it is said there's a lot of discussion on jihad in Islam. Even after all the efforts, if someone doesn't understand the clean idea, power can be used. It's mentioned in the Quran and Gita. Shri Krishna gave lessons of jihad to Arjuna in a part of the Gita in Mahabharat".


After the BJP targeted him and the Congress, Patil on Friday tried to retract from his earlier recorded statement by making some laboured clarification.