MP considering ban on Salman Khurshid's book on Ayodhya verdict: Minister

The BJP government in Madhya Pradesh is contemplating banning in the state, senior Congress leader Salman Khurshid's book, said Home Minister Narottam Mishra

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The BJP government in Madhya Pradesh is contemplating banning in the state, senior Congress leader Salman Khurshid's book in which he has compared Hindutva to radical jihadist groups like ISIS and Boko Haram, after taking legal opinion on the matter, said Home Minister Narottam Mishra on Friday.

The minister also hit out at Khurshid over the book on the Ayodhya verdict, titled 'Sunrise Over Ayodhya: Nationhood in Our Times', which was released on Wednesday. Talking to reporters in Bhopal, Mishra said, "We will take the opinion of legal experts on the book and get it banned in Madhya Pradesh." Mishra criticised Khurshid over the controversial content of the book and accused the former Union minister of targeting Hindutva and attempting to divide the majority community. "These people do not leave any opportunity to target Hindutva and divide Hindus on caste lines. After 'Bharat Tere Tukde Honge Inshallah Inshallah', Rahul Gandhi was the first to go there (on that path). Salman Khurshid is now taking forward the same idea," he said. Mishra stated that Congress leader Kamal Nath had earlier said this is not "Mahan Bharat" but a "Badnam Bharat" (in context of coronavirus pandemic), and his party colleague Khurshid is now moving in the same direction. Khurshid, in his book, writes: "Sanatan Dharma and classical Hinduism known to sages and saints were being pushed aside by a robust version of Hindutva, by all standards a political version similar to the jihadist Islam of groups like ISIS and Boko Haram of recent years.