"I Am Ashamed": Assam's Badruddin Ajmal Apologises For Remarks On Hindus

A day after making controversial remarks on Hindus, All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF) chief Badruddin Ajmal on Saturday expressed 'apology' saying that he had no intention of hurting anyone's sentiments.

"I had no intentions of hurting the sentiments of any community. I deeply regret my statement. Being a senior leader, I should not have made such comments. I apologise to everyone hurt by my remarks. I am ashamed of the statements. All I want is for the government to do justice to the minorities and give them education and employment," said Mr Ajmal.

He, however, said there was a need to think about population control.

On Friday, Mr Ajmal had said that Hindus, like Muslims, should get their children married at a young age.

"Muslim men marry at the age of 20-22 while Muslim women marry at 18, as stipulated by the government. However, (Hindus) have one two or three illegal wives before marriage. They don't give birth to babies in order to save costs," the AIUDF chief said.

Mr Ajmal said, "They (Hindus) should also follow the Muslims in getting their children married at a young age. Get the boys married at 20-22 and the girls married at 18-20 years and then see how many children are born."

Assam BJP MLA Diganta Kalita lambasted AIUDF chief over his remarks, saying he should go to Bangladesh.

"We don't have to learn from him. This is the country of Lord Ram and Goddess Sita. There is no place for Bangladeshis here. We do not have to learn from Muslims," said Mr Kalita.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)