Social Democratic Party of India

Social Democratic Party of India, (SDPI), has hailed Union Home Minister P. Chidambaram for the hurt he caused Muslim community by equating Jihad with Terrorism.

A SDPI Press release issued by its General Secretary A. Sayeed said: "Kudos to Union Home Minister P. Chidambaram for having realized his folly of equating Jihad with Terrorism and clarifying that he had no intention to hurt the sentiments of anybody in the Muslim community".

The Press release said it is good to observe that good sense has prevailed over Mr. Chidambaram and he has reportedly in his letter to some Muslim leaders has said that” I am happy to stand corrected” regarding the true meaning of the term Jihad.

The SDPI welcomed Mr. Chidambaram’s deemed apology and his humble acceptance of the fact that he didn’t have the knowledge of the real meaning of the word Jihad and he used the term as it is used in common parlance, the release said.

It may be mentioned here that SDPI had demanded of Mr. Chidambaram to clarify his position on the issue and tender public apology to Muslims for the same.

It may be recalled here that on December 31st last Prof. Jawahirullah, president, Tamil Nadu Muslim Munnetra Kazhagam, (TNMMK), had urged through his letter to Mr. Chidambaram to set right for his misconceived concept of the Arabic word “Jihad” equating the term to ‘terrorism’, while the fact remains that the very word “Jihad” actually stands for meaning for “struggle or striving”.

Other Muslim leaders and groups including All India Muslim Personal Law Board, Jamaat-e-Islami Hind, TNMMK had also promptly condemned him for the statement. Some of them had also sent letter to him urging him to withdraw the statement and tender apology to the Muslim community