New Delhi [India], July 31 : After the NIA court acquitted all the accused in the 2008 Malegaon Blast case, Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) leader Vinod Bansal on Thursday alleged that the Congress spread the idea of 'Hindu terrorism' to defame Hindus.
He claimed Congress protected real terrorists to targeted innocent Hindus and misused investigative agencies for political gain.
Speaking to ANI, Bansal said, "The Malegaon blast verdict has made four things clear: Congress is responsible for propagating terrorism; they fabricated the theory of Hindu or saffron terrorism; third, Congress protected the real terrorists to defame Hindus; fourth, investigative agencies were misused as tools of Congress's political agenda to persecute innocent Hindus. Congress must apologize to the Hindu community and to the nation."
Bansal accused Congress of falsely accusing individuals like Sadhvi Pragya, military officers, and social workers to advance its political agenda in the 2009 elections.
"A resolution should be passed in Parliament stating that Congress is a party that has supported terrorists and framed Hindus, making it an anti-Hindu party. By falsely accusing Sadhvi Pragya, military officers, and social workers, Congress pursued a political agenda to win the 2009 election... After the Allahabad High Court's decision in the Ram Janmabhoomi case, Sonia Gandhi immediately said they would appeal to the Supreme Court, despite not being a party to the case," he added.
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.
The court had examined 323 prosecution witnesses and 8 defence witnesses before pronouncing the verdict. The 7 people have been acquitted of all charges under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, Arms Act and all other charges.
The 2008 Malegaon blast case was transferred to the NIA in 2011 from the Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS). After a 17-year-long wait, examination of hundreds of witnesses, the NIA special court on Thursday acquitted all seven people accused under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, Arms Act and all other charges.
On September 29 2008, six people were killed and 95 others injured when an explosive device strapped to a motorcycle detonated near a mosque in Malegaon City's Bhikku Chowk. Originally, 11 people were accused in the case; however, the court ultimately framed charges against 7, including former MP Sadhvi Pragya.