Despite his apology for the controversial remarks on the origin of the word 'Hindu', Karnataka Congress MLA Satish Jarkiholi said on Thursday that he will prove his words in the coming days and meet historians in this regard. Jarkiholi said he had withdrawn his earlier statements only to avoid a damage to the Congress party.
"The matter is not going to end here. Many have spoken to me. Even I have the responsibility of proving myself. I will do some research and I will convince my party leaders and everyone else. I have not jettisoned my principles," he said.
Jarkiholi, who is also the Pradesh Congress Committee secretary, said he had not made a hasty statement and that he had done enough research before delivering the speech. “There was pressure at the national and the state level to withdraw my statement and hence I apologized. I have discussed it with senior leaders. The party is bigger than me," he asserted.
Jarkiholi had stirred up a political storm in Karnataka after he claimed on Monday that the word 'Hindu' is Persian and has a very dirty meaning. "They speak about Hindu Dharm...this that, where did the Hindu word come from? Is it ours? It is Persian. Persian is from Iran, Iraq, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan. What is Bharat's relationship with it? Then, how did Hindu become yours? There should be a debate on this," the Yamakanamaradi MLA had said.
On Thursday, the legislator said if the issue is left here, it will damage the party. "The party will support me and the leaders are with me. My statements have become controversial. They have portrayed me and my party as anti-Hindu. I know who started it. I also realize that opposition parties will make an issue out of it. If it is left here, it is going to damage the party. There is a need for proving the facts and bringing out the truth," he was quoted as saying by IANS.
Jarkiholi's fresh remarks came a day after he offered an apology and withdrew his statements. “My speech was based on Wikipedia, books, dictionaries and works of historians. Some vested interests have branded me anti-Hindu. There is also a systematic ploy to defame me and damage my image,” he said in a letter to Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai.
The ruling BJP had staged protests across Karnataka against the legislator's remarks and demanded for his sacking by the opposition party.