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BJP demands public apology from RSS critics

A day after the revelation that a fringe outfit headed by a Pakistani was behind the serial blasts in churches in south India, the Bharatiya Janata Party on Saturday demanded an 'unconditional public apology' from those who had blamed the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh for the incidents.

"Some self-styled Christian leaders and others have done an irreparable loss to the nation by making irresponsible charges against nationalist organisations. Now that the truth is slowly coming out, they should apologise," party general secretary M Venkaiah Naidu told reporters in Hyderabad.

While Bishops were restrained in their public remarks condemning the blasts, some 'self-styled Christian leaders' had tried to gain 'political mileage' out of the issue by making 'highly objectionable statements' against nationalist organisations like the RSS, Naidu alleged.

"In the process of using religion as a garb to embarrass the National Democratic Alliance government and to drive a wedge among its allies, these leaders have brought disrepute to the nation and spread disinformation for extraneous considerations," he said.

The outcome of investigations into the blasts so far had vindicated the BJP's argument that the explosions were the handiwork of terrorist organisations aided and abetted by an outside agency, Naidu said.

PTI

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