Azad compares RSS with IS, BJP demands apology

Senior Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad on Saturday sought to compare the RSS with the Islamic State (IS) while saying he equally opposes both organisations but drew an angry protest from the BJP which demanded an apology.

"We oppose ISIS with equal might as we oppose the RSS," Azad said addressing a meeting of religious minorities and opposition parties held under the aegis of Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind.

Religion should not be an issue, he said adding: "Even from among us if someone does any wrong thing, then he is also no less than the RSS."

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) demanded Congress president Sonia Gandhi to tender an apology and take action against Azad.

"These only reflect Congress frustration. They are still unable to stomach the defeat of 2014. We demand from Congress chief Sonia Gandhi that she should initiate action against Azad and tender an apology to the people of this country," BJP leader Shrikant Sharma told reporters.

Another BJP spokesman Nalin Kohli also slammed the Congress leader for his statement and said "is he (Azad) forgetting all the social services RSS do during natural calamities".

The RSS also reacted saying such remarks only show "intellectual bankruptcy" of the Congress party.

"Mr. Azad comparing ISIS with RSS exhibits the intellectual bankruptcy of Congress," RSS leader Manmohan Vaidya tweeted.

He also said such remarks show the Congress' "unwillingness to deal with fundamentalist and cruel forces like ISIS".