A day after Rural Development Minister Jairam Ramesh said Rahul Gandhi should apologise to Muslims for his controversial ISI remark following the Muzaffarnagar riots, the Congress on Sunday distanced itself from his remark saying the party vice-president has already clarified his statement to the EC.
“I didn’t say Rahul Gandhi should apologise,” he said, adding that news channels “twisted my comments”. While Ramesh in the meantime did a U-turn saying that he had not asked for an apology by Rahul, the BJP said it will remain to be seen if Rahul apologises to Muslims or Ramesh apologises to Rahul.
“What will Rahul Gandhi say or do, I can’t sayIJ If you’re saying he should clarify his statement and apologise, then I agree with you,” he said in response to a question on Rahul’s statement during an interaction with Urdu journalists here on Saturday. Union Ministers K Rehman Khan and Rajiv Shukla were also present at the event.
The journalists had conveyed to Ramesh that the community was hurt by Rahul’s remarks and suggested that the Congress vice-president should apologise. “He is genuinely concerned about minorities, weaker sections, Dalits and deprived classes.” Ramesh said, adding “Rahul has not raised any question on the (Muslim) community, hasn’t shown any suspicion or doubted their intentions. I agree that the statement shouldn’t have been made the way it was made.”
The Union Minister had said even some of his non-Muslim friends expressed dismay over the ISI comments, but clarified that Rahul’s intention was never to hurt anyone. Distancing itself from Ramesh’s statement, Congress spokesperson Meem Afzal said Rahul has already clarified his statement in reply to the Election Commission and the party has also spoken about the issue.
“I do not know what Jairam Ramesh has said. But whatever he might have said may be his personal view. This is not the view of the party,” Afzal said. The EC had earlier reprimanded Rahul for his comments, taking exception to his “tone and tenor”. Afzal said his party respects the wisdom of the EC, adding that it had Rahul’s intentions.
However, taking a dig at Ramesh’s comments, the BJP said it has to be seen whether Rahul will apologise to the Muslim community or the former will apologise to his party leader. BJP spokesperson Siddharth Nath Singh said Rahul had hurt the sentiments of the Muslim community and should have apologised to them by now.