Arun Jaitley Says ISIS Ideology Converging With Extreme-left, Cites JNU as Example

New Delhi: A part of Islamic State's ideology is converging with certain extreme-left ideas, Union Finance minister Arun Jaitley said on Sunday. Jaitley warned that Sufism was being replaced by 'Wahabism' in the Kashmir Valley, which has been on the boil for well over a year now.

The finance minister was addressing a National Seminar on Integral Humanism-Indian Way of Attaining Sustainable Development Program in New Delhi where he said: "The demand for political autonomy is rising as an Islamist movement. You can see the signs throughout India. I feel India is fortunate that elements like ISIS are few as compared to other countries. However, the opinions arising from them and ultra-left opinions are converging in some sectors."

Referring to one of the incidents on the Jawaharlal Nehru University campus, Jaitley said it was a testament to this convergence. "Those who took the forefront in supporting this are cheerleaders of this convergence," ANI quoted him as saying.

Jaitley said that communism had a strong foothold once in West Bengal and Kerala, but its effect is now fading even in these states.

"Traditional political brands like the Left and Right are gradually fading out. Electoral relevance is also declining, as we have seen post the breakup of the Soviet Union and abandonment of state-controlled economy by China. Even in states like West Bengal and Kerala, the presence of the ideology is being washed away, and slowly the support for us (BJP) is going up in numbers," said Jaitley.

Jaitley opined that the 'central position', earlier held by the Congress party, was abandoned by the grand old party, conceding grounds to the Bhartiya Janata Party, which capitalised on it. He recalled how from a 'distinct ideological pole (as defined by LK Advani)', the BJP has come to occupy the centrestage. The politics of other parties now revolves around what the BJP does.

He also cautioned the ministers to be careful in their statements so as not to harm the BJP's central position in the current political scenario.

(With inputs from ANI)