Jaitley rules out Modi's apology on 2002 riots

Says Modi is "concerned" about the violence and about putting in a system in place so the riots are not repeated

Senior BJP leader Arun Jaitley today ruled out an apology from Narendra Modi on the 2002 riots, saying he does not have to do it to satisfy a "fake campaign" against him.

"Those asking for an apology wanted the apology to be an act of confession. If he has actually committed a mistake why apologise, he should have been prosecuted and punished for it.

"We can squabble over the kind of expressions one wants to use... To satisfy a fake campaign he does not have to apologise," Jaitley said in an interaction with foreign journalists here.

Perceived as a close confidante of the BJP's PM candidate, he said Modi is certainly "concerned" about the violence and about putting in a system in place so the riots are not repeated.

The Leader of the Opposition in Rajya Sabha said all Gujaratis, including Muslims have prospered, under Modi's rule and these voices demanding an apology are not coming from within the state. "These are coming from these campaigns," he said.

Quizzed on the unease of Muslims about Modi and what he and BJP have done to assuage these apprehensions, Jaitley said they were concerned about the security of the minority community, non-discrimination and their economic progress.

"Modi himself repeats this assurance of security, non-discrimination and economic progress when he repeatedly says that the primary document of governance will be Indian constitution... That is why efforts of our opponent to create this scare is not working," he said.