New Delhi, Oct 10 : Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde Thursday rejected the BJP's criticism of his letter in which he had asked chief ministers to ensure that no innocent Muslim was arrested in the name of fighting terror.

The minister said he had referred to a particular community in response to the representations received by him.

He said various representations had been received from different quarters against alleged harassment of innocent youth.

"There has been misunderstanding by a particular party. The reference (to community) is only in first two paragraphs," Shinde said here.

"We are not saying this (in the letter)... We received representations from NGOs. It (the letter) is written in that context. The word Muslim is not there in third, fourth or fifth paragraph," he said.

Shinde took a dig at BJP over the suggestion of the party leader Venkaiah Naidu that letter written by the home minister should be thrown into the dustbin.

"It indicates BJP ruled states have something in mind. That is the indication," he said.

BJP has termed Shinde's letter as 'highly communal' and 'highly objectionable'.

In his letter, Shinde had asked the chief ministers to ensure that no innocent Muslim was arrested in the name of fighting terror.

He said strict and prompt action should be taken against erring police officers when malafide arrests are made of any member of a minority community. (IANS)