Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh) [India], July 31 : Former Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh and veteran BJP leader Uma Bharti on Thursday broke down in tears after the NIA court acquitted all seven accused, including BJP MP Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur, in the 2008 Malegaon blast case.
Speaking to ANI, Bharti said that the way Pragya was tortured in jail, it is very difficult for any woman to bear that.
Bharti blamed several political parties for labelling her and others under the term 'Bhagwa terror'.
"I am so happy that I do not have words to express. When Pragya was in the Nashik jail, I learned through a police officer that she was extremely tortured. I went to meet her when no one else used to. I cried when I met her...The way she was tortured, it is very difficult for any woman to bear that...," she said.
Bharti demanded accountability from the senior leaders of the Congress and other parties, saying, "I want to ask what punishment should P Chidambaram, Digvijay Singh, Rahul Gandhi, Left, Samajwadi, and Congress leaders should be given, who tried to establish the term Bhagwa terror?... Extraordinary action should be taken against them..."
Earlier today, Mumbai's NIA special court acquitted all seven accused, including former MP Sadhvi Pragya, Major (retired) Ramesh Upadhyay, Sudhakar Chaturvedi, Ajay Rahirkar, Sudhankar Dhar Dwivedi (Shankaracharya) and Sameer Kulkarni. The people were acquitted of all charges under the UAPA, Arms Act and others.
Soon after the verdict, advocate Shahid Nadeem, representing the victim's families, said that he will challenge the acquittal of the seven accused in the High Court soon.
Earlier today, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav questioned whether the news of the acquittal of the Malegaon blast case accused was intended to overshadow the significant news of the US announcing the imposition of 25 per cent tariffs on India.
Speaking to reporters in the national capital, Akhilesh Yadav said, "I did not read the report, but the accused who were involved in such a huge incident should be punished. Such a big thing happened in America, is this news to suppress that? Tariff is a big question."