Koppal: Higher education minister Basavaraj Rayareddi Monday said his remarks praising Islam were misconstrued while insisting there was nothing wrong in describing the religion as great. He insisted he had not suggested other faiths were inferior.At a public event Sunday, Rayareddi had described Islam as the “scientific and greatest religion in the world” and that he wished to undertake the haj pilgrimage at least once, comments that triggers a backlash from BJP.Clarifying his remarks, Rayareddi said he was referring to values and ideals in Islam that he admired. “What is wrong with saying Islam is a great religion? I only said there are certain admirable qualities in Islam. That does not mean other religions are bad,’’ he said.Rayareddi said all religions were great and that appreciating one faith in a particular context did not amount to denigrating others. “This kind of discussion is not good. We speak about religions depending on the context. Every single religion is great. No religion is bad,’’ he said.Earlier, Rayareddi had said Islam was a religion of humanity and urged people to adopt the good principles of every faith rather than merely visiting places of worship. “But wrong notions are being spread about Islam. This religion teaches how a human should live in society,’’ he said. “Anyone can read the Quran; I am also ready to study the Quran.”Meanwhile, opposition BJP continued to attack Basavaraj Rayareddi over his remarks on Islam with opposition leader R Ashoka accusing him of ranking religions. He said ministers were bound by their constitutional oath to treat all faiths equally. BJP MP and former chief minister Basavaraj Bommai said Rayareddi “had hurt sentiments of people” belonging to other religions and alleged that his remarks could disturb communal harmony. Legislative council LoP Chalavadi Narayanswamy accused Congress of appeasement politics and said Rayareddi’s remarks were unacceptable. However, home minister Priyank Kharge defended Rayareddi, saying people could learn from the values of different faiths. “There are certain aspects of Islam, Buddhism, Jainism and Hinduism that anybody can adopt and should adopt. What is wrong with that? What is the issue?’’ Priyank said.He questioned BJP’s criticism and referred to RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat’s remarks on Muslims. “Why are BJP members attacking him (Rayareddi)? Mohan Bhagwat ji said the same thing, didn’t he? Now, BJP has grown bigger than RSS,” Priyank said.
