‘Jash-e-Roshni’: Union Minister Giriraj Singh Fumes at IIT-Kanpur’s Diwali Card – News18

Last Updated:October 29, 2024, 11:11 IST

Objecting to the card that invites guests to an exclusive Diwali event at the institute on October 29, the minister said the wording insults Sanatan Dharma

A Diwali invitation purportedly sent out by the international relations wing of IIT-Kanpur has triggered controversy by referring to the festival of lights as “Jash-e-Roshani”, with Union minister Giriraj Singh objecting to the alleged “Islamisation” of the Hindu festival.

Objecting to the card that invites guests to an exclusive Diwali event at the institute on October 29, the minister said the wording insults Sanatan Dharma.

“Please do not Islamise a Sanatan festival. This is Deepotsav and it will remain Deepotsav,” Singh wrote on X.

“We will not allow word jihad in our worship. This is an attempt to Islamise people through ‘word jihad’,” Giriraj Singh said while speaking to the media.

“People like Owaisi spread rumours and confusion that even in the coming 80-90 years, Muslims will not be equal to Hindus. I want to tell them not to spread rumours among Hindus. In 1951, their number was 2.5 to 2.8 crores. Today, on the basis of government figures, you are 17 crores, undeclared figures say that you are 25 crores. Hindus have increased from 30 crores to 90 crores. Our population has increased three times, while your population has increased 7 times,” news agency ANI quoted the Union minister as saying.

Asaduddin Owaisi’s AIMIM had recently filed a complaint against Giriraj Singh in Bihar’s Kishanganj, stating that the senior BJP leader indulged in inflammatory speeches during his ‘Hindu Swabhiman Yatra’.