'It is wrong to malign Islam'

NEW DELHI: Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) prime ministerial candidate LK Advani on Saturday said that it is wrong to target and malign one particular religion for the wrongs of a few.

"Even if the Quran is quoted in threatening emails by terrorists, we should not malign a religion. It is the particular interpretation of the Al Qaida-type of groups," Advani said while addressing a seminar on 'War on Terrorism' organised by Rambhau Mhalgi Prabodhini, a BJP- sponsored think tank.

He said that Hindu scriptures could also be misinterpreted and it would be "intolerable if people malign Hindutva because of that".

On the party's repeated demand for reviving the stringent anti-terror law Prevention of Terrorism Act (POTA), Advani said: "We have accepted the Supreme Court's directions and precautions to check misuse of the law. This shows the determination of the BJP to make proper laws."

The BJP has intensified its campaign for the general elections due next year and is using the issue of terrorism to criticise the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government. The seminar Saturday is one of many planned to mobilise people against the UPA government on the BJP's chief election plank - the fight against terrorism.