'Society Made Him Terrorist': Jitendra Awhad's Wife Compares Osama Bin Laden To Abdul Kalam, BJP Reacts

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Friday fired a fresh salvo at the NCP (Sharadchandra Pawar) leader Jitendra Awhad after his wife urged the children to read the biography of Osama Bin Laden and compared the founder of the militant Islamist organisation al-Qaeda with the former president APJ Abdul Kalam.

BJP leader Shehzad Poonwalla said, “Jitendra Awhad’s wife on an open platform urged the children to read Osama Bin Laden’s biography like they read of APJ Abdul Kalam to understand how he became a terrorist. It has become a habit of the INDIA bloc to defend terrorists.”

He added that not only NCP, but each constituent party of the opposition INDIA bloc has defended terrorists and terrorism on several occasions. “Jeetendra Ahwad had defended Ishrat Jahan (LeT terrorist). Congress-NCP Pawar- SP- alliance leaders have routinely defended Yakub, Afzal and Kasab,” he said.

What Jitendra Awhad’s Wife Said?

Addressing a gathering of children during a public event, Ruta Awhad made a controversial remark urging the students to read a biography of Laden to understand how he became a terrorist.

“You must read the biography of Osama Bin Laden. How APJ Abdul Kalam became the president is similar to the way Osama Bin Laden became a terrorist. But why did he become a terrorist? It was the society that forced him to become that way,” she said during the event.

My Statement Was Distorted: Ruta Awhad

After her statement ignited a political firestorm inviting sharp criticism from the BJP, Ruta Awhad came forward in her defence and claimed that her statement was distorted.

“There were young people in front of me. I told them to get up from their mobile phones and read books on Abdul Kalam who was the president. I also told them to read why Osama Bin Laden became a terrorist,” said Ruta Awhad in a recorded video message.

“When we read Ramayana, we also read about Ravana. He was there and hence Ramayana happened. How we want to make our lives is in our hands but my statement was not shown in full,” she added.

Further, she alleged that she gave two examples of two different personalities to encourage the students and make them understand the importance of education. “But my statement was presented in a distorted manner,” she said.