Stung by criticism from several quarters, including Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, over his sarcastic tweet on Jain monk Tarun Sagar’s address to the Haryana Assembly, music composer and AAP supporter Vishal Dadlani on Sunday announced quitting “all active political work” but maintained it was his own decision to quit the party.
Known to be a staunch AAP supporter, Dadlani deleted the tweet and tendered an apology, saying he “made a mistake by offending the peaceful Jain community”. He also apologised to the Jain monk on Twitter.
Following Dadlani’s tweet on Saturday, Kejriwal had disapproved his remark saying that “Tarun Sagarji Maharaj is a very revered saint, not just for Jains but everyone and those showing disrespect is unfortunate and should stop”, while Delhi PWD Minister Satyendar Jain sought “kshama” from him on behalf of his music composer “friend”.
Dadlani, however, maintained that he was against over-lapping of religion and governance. The Haryana Govern-ment had invited the Jain monk, who appeared in nude, to deliver a lecture ‘Kadve Vachan’ in the Assembly on Friday.
“It feels bad that I hurt my Jain friends & my friends @ArvindKejriwal & @SatyendarJain. I hereby quit all active political work/affiliation. I apologise again, to the Jain Community, & all others offended. But I beg you all not to support religion in governance, for India’s sake,” Dadlani tweeted.