BELAGAVI: A day after he refused to budge over his remarks on the ‘Persian origin’ of the word Hindu, Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee working president Satish Jarkiholi has withdrawn his controversial remark.
In a letter to Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai, he said, “My statement at a programme in Nippani has created a controversy and has been twisted and misrepresented. With a view not to create confusion in the minds of the people, I am withdrawing my statement. I would also like to express regret if my statements have caused any hurt”, he said.
He claimed that his speech at the event was based on information sourced from Wikipedia, books dictionaries and historical documents. “Some vested interests are trying to portray me as anti-Hindu and harm my reputation”, he noted.
Further, in this letter, Satish Jarkiholi has appealed to the CM to institute an inquiry into the whole issue.
Earlier in the day, BJP workers had staged a protest in the city condemning the Congress leader’s remarks.