Downplaying Assam Governor PB Acharya's controversial 'Hindustan is for Hindus' remark, Minister of State for Home Affairs Kiren Rijiju on Monday said the former did not use the word Hindu in a 'religious context'.
"Hindus does not mean religion. What he has said is according to the (ancient) 'Sarvadharma Sambhav' concept," Rijiju told media here.
The Assam Governor had during a book launch on Saturday said that 'Hindustan is for Hindus' and that the name of a single Bangladeshi should not be in the updating of the National Register for Citizens (NRC).
Acharya's comment came in reply to a question on the updating of the NRC list and on the controversy surrounding the Centre's notification of allowing religious minorities from Pakistan and Bangladesh fleeing persecution to seek shelter in India.
"Hindustan is for Hindus. There is nothing wrong with that. Hindus from different countries can stay here. They cannot be outsiders. There is nothing to be feared about that. But how to accommodate them is a big question and we should think about that," he said.