Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], August 4 : BJP MLA Ram Kadam on Monday said Congress's face had turned black after the acquittal of all seven accused in the 2008 Malegaon blasts case. He accused the Congress of wanting to defame the Hindu religion.
"The truth cannot be hidden... It took 7 years, and Sadhvi Pragya and others had done a long struggle. Truth might be oppressed, but it cannot be defeated. When the truth has come out, Congress's face has turned black because of the way they were trying to defame the Sanatan Hindu religion," Kadam told ANI.
"Why did they put the names of CM Yogi, Prime Minister, and RSS Chief in a conspiracy? These people wanted to defame the Hindu religion. For this reason, they brought up the term 'saffron terrorism," he alleged.
On July 31, Mumbai's NIA special court acquitted all seven accused of the 2008 Malegaon blasts, with the court saying that the prosecution failed to establish the case beyond a reasonable doubt. The NIA court has also ordered the Maharashtra government to award Rs 2 lakh compensation to the families of the victims and Rs 50,000 compensation to the injured.
A total of 7 people were accused, including former MP Sadhvi Pragya, Major (retired) Ramesh Upadhyay, Sudhakar Chaturvedi, Ajay Rahirkar, Sudhankar Dhar Dwivedi (Shankaracharya) and Sameer Kulkarni.
Meanwhile, Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur on Sunday alleged that she was "forced" to take the names of PM Modi, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, RSS Chief Mohan Bhagwat and other leaders during the investigation of 2008 Malegaon bomb blast case.
"I have said this earlier too, that they forced me to take the names of tall leaders. I didn't take those names; I didn't act as they wanted me to. So, they tortured me. Those names especially included Mohan Bhagwat, Ram Madhav, PM Modi, Yogi Adityanath, Indresh Kumar and other leaders," she said.
"Bhagwa aatankwaad kehne waalon ke munh kaale huye hain. Society and the country have given them a solid reply. The court's decision is crystal clear. This is a slap on the faces of those who called it 'saffron terror'...They called it 'saffron terror' and 'Hindu terror' earlier too. Maharashtra's Chavan (Prithviraj Chavan) has spoken on 'sanatana aatankwaad', 'Hindutva aatankwaad'. They are people of the same category. They are all members of Congress," she said.
Originally, 11 people were accused in the case; however, the court ultimately framed charges against 7. The lawyer representing the victims' families said that he will be challenging the acquittal of the seven people in the High Court.