Once vocal on ‘saffron terror', Congress big guns evasive after 2008 Malegaon blast verdict
Speaking to reporters in the Parliament complex, Lok Sabha Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi parried when asked for a response on the acquittals.
New Delhi: The acquittal Thursday of the seven accused in the 2008 Malegaon blast case elicited a guarded response from the Congress, which has over the years drawn the BJP's censure for fanning the 'bogey' of 'Hindu terror' while in power from 2004 to 2014.
Congress Rajya Sabha MP Digvijaya Singh, who triggered controversy in 2010 after attending the launch of a book, '26/11: RSS ki Sazish', was also measured in his words, saying that terrorism, a 'byproduct of hatred', had no religion.
'I even told the home minister in the Rajya Sabha that I never accused the RSS of the Mumbai attack. I will repeat that the RSS had no role in the Mumbai terror attack. The allegations made against me are false,' Singh had told reporters ahead of the Malegaon case verdict.
Following the verdict, when reporters approached him for a response, Singh said, 'There are no Hindu terrorists. Hatred gives birth to terrorism, not Hinduism, Islam or any other religion. It is not right to link religion with terrorism. Every religion represents love, harmony, truth, and non-violence.'
Digvijaya Singh contested and lost the 2019 Lok Sabha elections from the Bhopal seat against BJP's Pragya Thakur, one of those acquitted Thursday in the 2008 Malegaon blast case.
Former Madhya Pradesh chief minister Kamal Nath, meanwhile, told reporters that those affected by the acquittal have the option of filing an appeal.
Digvijaya Singh's presence at a launch event, involving a book authored by Aziz Burney, in 2010 came when many voices within the Congress had started flagging the possible radicalisation among a section of Hindus, and the BJP-RSS role behind it.
For instance, addressing a conference of top police officers in August 2010, P. Chidambaram, then serving as the home minister, said, 'There is no let-up in the attempts to radicalise young men and women in India. Besides, there is the recently uncovered phenomenon of saffron terrorism that has been implicated in many bomb blasts of the past. My advice to you is that we must remain ever vigilant and continue to build, at the central and state levels, our capacity in counter-terrorism.'
His remarks, at the time, sparked a controversy, prompting the Congress to issue a clarification that 'terrorism has only one colour, and it is black'.
Speaking Thursday, Congress Rajya Sabha MP Imran Pratapgarhi reiterated that position, claiming UPA-era Home Secretary R.K. Singh, who would subsequently join the BJP and serve as a minister in the Modi dispensation, coined the term 'saffron terror'.
'The Congress party has been saying from the first day that religion is not associated with terrorism. This term was coined by the then-Home Secretary, R.K. Singh. The BJP kept him as a minister and MP for 10 years, sitting alongside them,' Pratapgarhi said, adding that the National Investigation Agency (NIA) special court delivered 'a verdict, not justice'.
'Former Maharashtra anti-terrorism squad chief Hemant Karkare, who had caught them (the Malegaon blast accused) was martyred while protecting this nation in the 2008 Mumbai attack. The BJP is essentially questioning his martyrdom now,' he said.
Former Home Minister and Congress leader Sushilkumar Shinde has written in his 2024 autobiography that R.K. Singh spoke about 'saffron terror' in 2013 after Shinde brought it up at a party convention in Jaipur in January 2013.
In an address at the convention, Shinde noted he spoke about 'saffron terror' in his memoir 'Five Decades in Politics', and the home ministry investigations revealed that some saffron organisations had been conducting training camps to spread terrorism.
'Reports have come during the investigation that the BJP and the RSS conduct terror training camps to spread terrorism … Bombs were planted in the Samjhauta Express, Mecca Masjid, and a blast was carried out in Malegaon. We will have to think about it seriously and will have to remain alert,' I had told the AICC delegates. 'We have to take these facts seriously and remain alert',' Shinde wrote.
He added, 'I had come across the term 'saffron terror' in one of the confidential papers prepared by the Union home ministry. But it was an issue that had the potential to snowball into a huge controversy since the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), and its ideological fulcrum, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), were apparently involved.'
'I was, therefore, careful to first check the veracity of the allegation before going public with it…Subsequently, R.K. Singh also spoke, which was a pleasant surprise because it is rare to see an Indian Administrative Service officer dwell on politicised issues.'
(Edited by Madhurita Goswami)
Also Read: 'Grave suspicion but not enough proof'—what NIA court said as it acquitted Malegaon blast accused
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