Karnataka Congress leader Satish Jarkiholi on Tuesday doubled down on his controversial remark about the word ‘Hindu’ and insisted there was ‘nothing wrong’ in what he said; the MLA from the southern state’s Yamakanmardi constituency triggered furious reactions Sunday after he said the word had Persian origins and a ‘horrible and shameful’ meaning.
“… there are hundreds of records about how the Persian word (Hindu) came. This has been mentioned in Swamy Dayanand Saraswati’s book ‘Satyartha Prakasha’, Dr GS Patil’s book ‘Basava Bharatha’ and Bal Gangadhar Tilak’s ‘Kesari’ newspaper as well…,” he said.
“These are just three-four examples. Many such articles on Wikipedia… please read it,” Jarkiholi, who is working president of his party’s state unit, said.
“Let everyone prove I’m wrong. If I am wrong, I’ll resign as MLA and not just apologise.”
On Sunday Jarkiholi was at an event in Karnataka’s Belagavi district when he declared the word ‘Hindu’ … is Persian… What is Bharat’s relationship with it?” he asked.
“They speak about Hindu dharm… (but) where did the Hindu word come from? Is it ours? It is Persian. Persian is from Iran, Iraq, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan. What is Bharat’s relationship with it? How did Hindu become yours? There should be a debate on this,” he declared.
“Look at Wikipedia, WhatsApp… where this word comes from? It is not yours. Then why are you placing it at such a high position? If you understand its meaning, you will be ashamed. The meaning of the word ‘Hindu’ is very dirty,” the Congress leader added.
Shortly afterwards Congress leader Randeep Surjewala condemned the statements.
“Hinduism is a way of life and a civilisational reality. Congress built our nation to respect every religion, belief & faith. This is the essence of India. The statement attributed to Satish Jarkiholi is deeply unfortunate & deserves to be rejected. We condemn it unequivocally.”
READ | Karnataka Congress leader says meaning of Hindu is shameful, gets an earful from party MP
Predictably, that was not enough to quell the tide of criticism, particularly from BJP leaders eager to put one over their rivals ahead of the Assemby election in Karnataka next year.
The ruling party’s state boss, Arun Singh, said Jarkiholi had defamed India’s culture. “Congress always speaks badly of our ancient culture. Satish Jarkiholi defamed our ancient culture. It’s highly condemnable. People will give befitting reply,” he said, with an eye on the 2023 polls.
Singh also appealed to new Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge – elected to the post last month to replace (long-time) interim president Sonia Gandhi – to take action. “If Congress does not agree with his statement, they should immediately oust him,” he said.
BJP spokesperson Shehzad Poonawalla also slammed Jarkiholi for his remark.
