NEW DELHI, July 21: Senior Congress leader Shakeel Ahmed claimed on Sunday the 2002 riots in Gujarat led to the formation of militant group Indian Mujahideen (IM).

“Indian Mujahideen was formed after the Gujarat riots, says the NIA in its charge sheet. Even now the BJP and RSS will not desist from their communal politics?,” Mr Ahmed wrote on microblogging site Twitter.

When contacted, the Congress general secretary blamed the “communal politics of BJP for the chain reaction” on the issue of terrorism.

“This [2002 riots] was the reason behind the creation of Indian Mujahideen. If they forsake their communal politics, outfits like [the] IM will cease to exist,” he said.

“So, the communal politics of BJP has led to a chain reaction. They should give up such politics,” Mr Ahmed remarked.

“The main source of communalism in the country is RSS and BJP,” he alleged and said: “Those who want to stop communal politics should build pressure on BJP and RSS.”

By arrangement with the Times of India