'Terrorism was never saffron': Fadnavis hails Malegaon blast verdict; BJP demands Rahul, Sonia Gandhi's apology
Meanwhile, Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde called it delayed justice, but said justice had finally been served to the victims. He alleged that during the Congress regime, several bomb blasts occurred and innocent people were framed, but now the courts are delivering justice to the truly innocent.
'The NIA court's verdict has erased the stigma on Hindus today. There is no doubt that the slogan 'Garv se kaho hum Hindu hai' will now be echoed a hundred times louder across the country. It is also true that justice was delayed, but it has been proven once again that truth is never defeated,' Shinde said.
Even though the Congress had raised questions about the NIA probe and its intentions, the Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena - a member of both the INDIA bloc and the MVA in Maharashtra - has welcomed the verdict.
While Thackeray has not yet issued an official response to the court order, his party's MLC and Leader of the Opposition hailed the verdict, calling it 'Satyamev Jayate – truth has prevailed'.
Referring to Union Home Minister Amit Shah's "A Hindu cannot be a terrorist" statement in the Rajya Sabha, Shiv Sena (UBT ) MP Sanjay Raut also said, "A terrorist does not have any caste or religion. The people of Pakistan call Kulbhushan Yadav a terrorist, a Hindu terrorist. We are not ready to accept it. The government should tell Pakistan that he is our citizen and get him freed."
He further said that Shiv Sena had given unwavering support to the "patriots who were imprisoned on false charges in the Malegaon blasts case from the very beginning. '
Meanwhile, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) alleged that the Congress "manufactured" the theory of "Hindu terror" when in power to stop the rise of Narendra Modi, the then Gujarat chief minister, to "appease its Muslim voters," as it welcomed the acquittal of seven accused in the Malegaon blast case.
BJP leader Ravi Shankar Prasad demanded that the discharged accused, former BJP MP Pragya Singh Thakur and Lt Col Prasad Purohit, should be compensated, and the prosecution apologise for allegedly using torture and planting evidence to frame them.
"The Congress can go to any extent to appease its vote bank. This case was a well-calculated conspiracy of the party for sheer vote bank politics," he said, calling it a "historic day."
Prasad said the Congress attempt to "force" the possibility of Hindu terror organisation and saffron terrorism has fallen flat.
Rahul Gandhi had earlier dismissed questions related to the court verdict as an attempt to detract from real issues as he hit out at the government over US President Donald Trump's critical comments on Indian economy.
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