Former Karnataka minister and working president of the Congress Satish Jarkiholi, who is well known for speaking his mind, got himself embroiled in a new controversy on Monday.
The 60-year-old claimed that the word “Hindu” has Persian roots and that its original meaning was not a pleasant one. The Congress as well as the BJP promptly distanced themselves from Jarkiholi’s comments.
He said, “Where did the word Hindu originate from? Is it ours? It’s Persian. Then what is the relation between it (Hindu) and India? How did ‘Hindu’ become yours? This should be discussed,” he said. The senior Congress leader went on to add: “If you understand the meaning of the word, you will be ashamed… The meaning of the word Hindu is very dirty. I am not saying this. This is on the website… You have brought this religion, (and) word from somewhere else and are imposing it on us.” (The word Hindu is commonly understood to be derived from the Sindhu or Indus River.)
His remarks comes amidst him being considered a CM candidate if Congress wins 2023 election
The AICC general secretary Randeep Singh Surjewala called Jarkiholi’s words “deeply unfortunate” and the party denounced them as the BJP attacked the Congress leader in Karnataka, which is headed for elections.
Surjewala, the Congress’s representative for Karnataka, posted on social media that “Hinduism is a way of life and civilizational reality. Congress built our Nation to respect every religion, belief, and faith. This is the essence of India.”
A leader of the Scheduled Tribe Valmiki Nayak community, the sugar baron from Belagavi district in north Karnataka is an unusual politician and businessman for not letting his interests get in the way of his “rationalist” beliefs.
In an effort to eliminate superstition surrounding graveyards, Jarkiholi had dined and spent the night in a graveyard in Belagavi city on December 6, 2014, while he was the excise minister in a Congress government that had been in power for just over a year.
Source: Indian Express
