Home minister evades queries on Ahmed's terror remarks

Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde on Monday refused to comment on Congress leader Shakeel Ahmed's controversial tweet on the origin of Indian Mujahideen, a banned terror outfit. While Shinde did not comment when asked about Ahmed's tweet that Indian Mujahideen was formed after the Gujarat riots, his deputy R P N Singh feigned ignorance over the tweet.

"Ahmed should answer for himself. I'm not aware what he said and I have not read his tweet," Singh told media persons in New Delhi. The Congress has already distanced itself from the comments, maintaining that it is not the party line as of now.

Ahmed, Congress General Secretary, on Sunday sparked a row when he said that Gujarat riots had led to creation of terror outfit Indian Mujahideen. The comment evoked a sharp reaction from the Bharatiya Janata Party which accused his party of playing the communal card for vote bank politics.

"The IM was formed after the Gujarat riots, says the national Investigation Agency in its charge sheet. Even now the BJP and the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh will not desist from their communal politics?," Ahmed had said on microblogging site Twitter.

Hitting back, the BJP said the remarks were "stupid" and "reprehensible" as the Pakistan links of such outfits were well known and alleged that it was a "desperate" Congress which was actually trying to communalise the political scenario and playing with national security as it had "no answers for all the wrongs" it had done.