'Hindus are peace-loving, don't indulge in riots,' says Assam CM; doubles down on 'love jihad' angle in Shraddha case

Assam Chief Minister and BJP firebrand leader Himanta Biswa Sarma on Thursday said that “Hindus normally don’t contribute to riots”, reported NDTV. The ambiguous remark was in reference to the instances of communal violence in the country. 

“Hindus are peace-loving. They do not indulge in rioting. Hindus as a community do not even believe in jihad. The Hindu community will never indulge in rioting,” Sarma said in an interview to NDTV. 

He made the remarks while elaborating on Union Home Minister Amit Shah’s remark that rioters were “taught a lesson in 2002”, after which they stopped such activities and the BJP established “permanent peace” in the coastal state. 

Shah had claimed that Gujarat witnessed riots in 2002 because perpetrators became habitual of indulging in violence due to the prolonged support they received from the Congress.

Elaborating on Shah’s remarks, Sarma said: “Post-2002, the Gujarat government took a series of actions to ensure peace in the state since then. There has been lasting peace in Gujarat. No curfews happen now.”

The Assam CM also doubled down on his “love jihad” remark made in reference to Shraddha Walkar’s killing by her live-in partner Aaftab Amin Poonawala. “I see it (ignoring love jihad) as a politics of appeasement by some. It is a concern for the security of women. There is evidence of love jihad. Even in Aaftab Poonawala's polygraph test, it is said that he revealed his actions will take him to jannat. There are reports on it,” Sarma told NDTV. 

Earlier this week, Sarma had said terrorism couldn't be contained under Congress' rule because of "appeasement politics.

He also said Prime Minister Narendra Modi stamped out terrorism in the last eight years with resolute actions by ending the appeasement politics and giving a befitting reply to Pakistan.

Referring to the Shraddha Walkar murder case, Sarma called for a law to tackle the incidents of "love jihad" (a term coined by right-wing parties which claim a plot to lure Hindu women into marrying Muslim men and converting them).

"Attacks by terrorists were rampant during the Congress rule. But, why have such attacks stopped today? Because, terrorists are being given a befitting reply under PM Modi," Sarma told a press conference in Ahmedabad.