Karnataka Congress chief BK Hariprasad on Tuesday called jailed student activist Umar Khalid a "nationalist", drawing a sharp response from the RSS-affiliated ABVP.
Hariprasad was responding to a question on the ABVP's opposition to the screening of a documentary on Khalid at the National Law School of India University (NLSIU).
"Umar Khalid is a nationalist. The ABVP has no right to speak about Khalid because the ABVP adores Nathuram Godse, who was an anti-national and a terrorist, the first terrorist of the country. They have no moral right or moral standing to speak about Khalid," Hariprasad told reporters.
Khalid, arrested in September 2020, was booked under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) in connection with the February 2020 Delhi riots, which left 53 people dead and more than 700 injured.
The ABVP accused Hariprasad of making an "irresponsible" statement and said it had exposed the "intellectual bankruptcy" of the Congress leader.
"How can the Congress party label an individual who openly supported and commemorated a convicted terrorist named Afzal Guru, the mastermind behind the violent attack on the Indian Parliament of 2001 that shed the blood of our brave security personnel - as a nationalist," the ABVP said in a statement.
It questioned whether the Congress endorsed those who organised events honouring Afzal Guru or supported slogans such as "Bharat Tere Tukde Honge" (India will be divided into pieces).
"Does Congress support the violent anti-India slogans raised in JNU and the deliberate incitement that led to bloodshed during the 2020 Delhi riots? Giving a patriot certificate to figures facing serious UAPA terror charges reveals Congress's complete compromise on national security," ABVP Bengaluru city president Abhinandan Mirji said.
On the Uniform Civil Code, Hariprasad questioned the BJP's push for its implementation, asking whether it had been implemented in Goa and the Northeast.
"There is no uniformity between the South and the North. So, they cannot try to force anything on the people of this country," he said.
Hariprasad also said Chief Minister DK Shivakumar had already clarified reports that he was not invited to an event marking 100 days of the Congress government.
(With inputs from PTI)