Shivraj Patil, a senior Congress leader and a former Union Home Minister, on October 20 said that the concept of jihad is not only mentioned in Quran but also in Gita, adding that Shri Krishna gave lessons of jihad to Arjuna in a part of Gita in Mahabharata.
Speaking at the launch of Congress veteran and former Union minister Mohsina Kidwai’s biography, Patil said, “It is said there’s a lot of discussion on jihad in Islam. Even after all the efforts, if someone doesn’t understand the clean idea, power can be used. It’s mentioned in Quran and Gita.”
“Shri Krishna gave lessons of jihad to Arjuna in a part of Gita in Mahabharat,” Patil added.
From 1991 to 1996, Shivraj Patil served as the 10th Speaker of the Lok Sabha in addition to serving as the Union’s home minister from 2004 to 2008. From 2010 to 2015, he served as Punjab’s governor and the administrator of Chandigarh.
Farooq Abdullah, Sushil Kumar Shinde, Digvijaya Singh, Shashi Tharoor, and other leading leaders of the Congress were also present.
Later on Friday, when a reporter asked Patil what is Jihad in Hindu Dharma, he said, “If you kill a person who speaks truth, that is jihad in Hindu Dharma.” “If you kill Mahatma Gandhi, it is Jihad. The act of killing him is Jihad,” he added.
