Congress's Shakeel Ahmed speaks of BJP, ISI in same vein

Both BJP and Pakistan's intelligence agency ISI "rejoice" when there is communal trouble in India, Congress general secretary Shakeel Ahmed said on Wednesday.

"Whenever there is a communal riot in the country, two types of people rejoice. In India "bhajpayee" (those belonging to the BJP) and Pakistan's ISI," Ahmed said.

Ahmed made the remarks at the Congress briefing on Wednesday, in response to a question.

He said he had earlier made similar remarks in a tweet.

Ahmed, however, denied he was making a comparison between the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Pakistani Inter-Services Intelligence.

Ahmed said India was built on the foundation of secularism with the belief that people of all communities stay and progress in harmony.

He said Pakistan was founded as a religious state and had seen a division in 1971.

Ahmed said the ISI, whose role has come under the scanner in several cases of violence in India, gets funding from people in some Muslim countries.

Ahmed said communal polarisation between communities "helps the BJP with votes".