Congress leader Digvijaya Singh attacks RSS in Rajya Sabha

Attacking RSS, Congress leader Digvijay Singh on Monday said its ideology was damaging peace of the country and asked the government to ban books spreading communal ideology.

Participating in a debate in Rajya Sabha on working of Home Ministry, he said, "Today, the biggest threat the country is facing is terrorism. What breeds terrorism is communal ideology...In the international arena, Taliban ideology is creating problem. Sangh ideology is equally damaging peace." The Sangh is an organisation which is not registered and has no membership in the country, he said, voicing concern over circulation of communal ideology via books and pamphlets.

Referring to books that were spreading communal ideology, Singh said, "There are books like 'Harvest of Hate' and 'Kandhamal in crossfire' authored by Michael Parker and another book 'Orissa in crossfire' by Brannon Parker. These books are published by India Foundation." He said there is no information about the publisher neither on the book nor on the internet.

"The name of the publisher is missing...We went to the address of the publisher, but the publisher was not found. On internet, there is no information about India Foundation. Moreover, the foreword of these books is written by Cabinet Minister Nirmala Sitaraman," he said and demanded ban on these books and an enquiry into the issue.

The Congress leader also warned that if government allows circulation of such books, it will lead to further spread of communal violence in the country.