Minister sidesteps query on Shakeel Ahmad tweet

Minister of State for Home Affairs R.P.N. Singh Tuesday declined to comment on Congress general secretary Shakeel Ahmad's tweet that the Indian Mujahideen (IM) came up after the 2002 Gujarat riots, and said there was an official view on the banned terror outfit.

"There is an official position on what the home ministry thinks on the Indian Mujahideen. It's there on our website. Our (home ministry) position is very clear. Shakeel Ahmad has already clarified that he is not supporting anyone," Singh told reporters here.

The home ministry website has declared 35 organisations as terrorist outfits, which includes IM under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967.

Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kamal Nath said the party held that there was no justification for terror.

"I haven't read his (Ahmad) tweet. But certainly no terrorism can be justified, that is what has been Congress' stand. There cannot be justification on any kind of terrorism."

Congress general secretary Digvijaya Singh, however, supported Shakeel Ahmad who, in his tweet, accused the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) of communal politics.

"Religious fundamentalism is at the root of terrorism," Digvijaya Singh told reporters while saying that even before BJP leader Narendra Modi became the chief minister of Gujarat, his party was practising divisive politics.

A tweet from Ahmad alleging that the banned terror outfit "Indian Mujahideen was formed after the Gujarat riots" stirred a political storm Sunday with the BJP reacting sharply to it.