AMN

The weekly magazine ‘Outlook’ has admitted to have wrongly attributed the Hindu leader remark to Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh, which created a storm in the Lok Sabha yesterday.

In a statement uploaded on magazine’s twitter handle last night, it said a remark made by late Ashok Singhal of Vishwa Hindu Parishad was erroneously attributed to Mr Rajnath Singh. It said, the magazine deeply regrets the lack of diligence in verifying the source of the statement.

It further added that there was no intention to denigrate the Home Minister or Parliament and the magzine sincerely regrets the embarrassment caused to Mr. Rajnath Singh and to CPI-M leader Mr. Mohammad Salim. It said, the online version of the said article has been corrected to put the facts on record.

This article created a storm in Lok Sabha yesterday, after Mr Salim, who initiated the debate, referred to the magazine during the course of his speech and alleged that Mr Singh had reportedly stated that Prime Minister Narendra Modi is the first Hindu leader heading the government at the Centre after hundreds of years. During the discussion, the Home Minister took serious exception to the allegation and clarified that he has not given such a statement. Mr Singh said, he is deeply hurt by the allegation and demanded that Mr Salim should apologize to the House. The House also witnessed repeated adjournments over the issue. The statement of Mr. Salim was later expunged by the Speaker.