Sanjay Dutt was foolish, should be forgiven, Digvijaya says again

Congress leader Digvijaya Singh on Monday reiterated his stand on Sanjay Dutt’s sentence by saying that the actor had been foolish and should be pardoned. “What I said on Sanjay Dutt is not illegal. At a time when there were communal riots all around, Sunil Dutt was being targeted. Sanjay in his foolishness must have thought he was a real hero and acquired the arms to protect his family,” Singh said. [caption id=“attachment_674625” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Digvijaya Singh. PTI[/caption] When asked whether being Sunil Dutt’s son can give Sanjay immunity against punishment for possessing illegal arms, Singh said, “Sunil Dutt was a great man and a great nationalist, who fought for communal harmony in this country. The communal elements, the Hindu right wings, the fanatics were targetting the family of Sunil Dutt. Why? Because he wanted to bring in communal harmony.” Singh had earlier made a statement saying, “Sanjay Dutt is not a criminal or terrorist. The atmosphere was bad in 1993 and he behaved like an immature child.” The Congress general secretary said the actor was then under the impression that his father was being targeted for supporting the Muslim cause, so he may have acquired the arms to protect his father. “He made a mistake and paid the price for it by going to jail for 18 months,” Singh said. With inputs from PTI