"Thankfully Chhota Rajan & Anup Chetia (ULFA) are not Muslims. Had they been Muslims Modi govt would have a different narrative altogether," Ahmad tweeted.
Lambasting the Congress leader, BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra said Ahmad made a "very appalling and shameless comment" and tried to discriminate among even terrorists on religious lines.
As his remarks raked up a row, Ahmad said he was simply trying to expose the "double standards and double speak" of the BJP and Modi government on the issue of terror.
"It has created vote banks in the society and today they are trying to differentiate between even terrorists in the name of religion. They are discriminating between Hindu terrorists and Muslim terrorists. What kind of a statement by Ahmad is this," he asked.
Also Read
Asked about the comments of Ahmed, senior Congress leader Girija Vyas said though she has not seen the remarks she thinks that Ahmed meant that terror has no religion and all should be treated equally.
Clarifying his comments, Ahmad said, "Had they been Muslims, the BJP would have said that Congress government or UPA government did not arrest them and did not bring them back to the country simply because they were Muslims. They would have said that the Congress and UPA were thus trying to do vote bank politics. That is why I remarked that. I have tried to expose the double standards of Modi government and the BJP."
"It is very unfortunate. That is why I was simply trying to expose the double standards of Modi and BJP," he reasoned.