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New Delhi: While advocating "zero tolerance towards terrorism", Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader M. Venkaiah Naidu has come out strongly against equating terrorists with any religion, Islam included.
"A terrorist is a terrorist, he has no religion," Naidu said in an interview at his residence here. He said there was a need to create awareness among the people not to "mix up terror with religion".
"Why should we talk of a terrorist as Islamic terrorist?" Naidu told IANS in an interview, adding it was unfair to tag a terrorist as a Muslim or a Hindu.
Naidu also challenged allegations that Muslims were being harassed in the name of fighting terror, particularly after the Sep 13 Delhi bombings that led to a shootout in the city's Jamia Nagar area and a nationwide crackdown on the Indian Mujahideen.
Citing the example of Maoists, Naidu said: "We arrest so many Naxalites, so many are killed. Nobody said that 95 percent of the Naxalites are Hindus, so Hindus are being harassed.
"This is a ridiculous argument. Nobody is defaming Muslims."
Naidu said that if the BJP took power again nationally following the coming Lok Sabha elections, the party would revive the Prevention of Terrorism Act (POTA).
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