‘Evil attempt' to malign Hindus rejected: RSS, VHP welcome 2008 Malegaon blast verdict

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Earlier in the day, a special NIA court in Mumbai while delivering its verdict in the 2008 Malegaon blast case noted that the prosecution failed to provide reliable evidence against the accused.
In a statement released Thursday, RSS's publicity in-charge Sunil Ambekar said, 'On the basis of some selfish motives, political selfishness and personal interests, an evil attempt was made to link the entire Hindu dharma and Hindu community to terrorism. With the court's verdict today, all those attempts and allegations have been declared baseless.'
New Delhi: The malicious attempt to link Hindu religion and Hindu society with terror stands rejected, Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) said on a special NIA court acquitting all seven accused including former BJP MP Pragya Singh Thakur in the 2008 Malegaon blast case.
'A conspiracy was hatched to defame Hindu society in the Malegaon blast case and 'saffron terror' was coined. This verdict is important because it shows there was no such thing as 'saffron terror', it is not there and it can never be either,' said Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) president Alok Kumar.
In a statement issued Thursday, Kumar added, 'After losing the game it is unfair to blame the umpire. Everyone should accept the court's verdict. We knew they were innocent since 2008 itself.
'The entire Hindu society was also aware of this. We knew they filed chargesheets against seven Hindu leaders and made a false case. We are happy for the leaders and also for the future of the Hindu community.'
VHP's joint general secretary Surendra Jain took aim at the Congress, saying, 'Today, the conspiracy of the false story of saffron terrorism that Congress had created to save 'jihadi' terrorists has been exposed. All Congress leaders including Rahul Gandhi should apologise not only to the Hindu community but to the entire country!'
A similar demand was made by the BJP with senior party leader Ravi Shankar Prasad demanding an apology from former Congress presidents Sonia and Rahul Gandhi.
'P. Chidambaram brought up the issue of what he called 'saffron terrorism', while addressing the annual conference of DGPs and IGPs on 25 August, 2010. It was Sushil Kumar Shinde, who, as Union home minister, talked about 'saffron terrorism' as well. You must also remember how Rahul Gandhi said that Hindu terrorism is more dangerous than Lashkar-e-Taiba,' Prasad said during a press conference Thursday.
The 2008 Malegaon blast case, he said, 'was the first time the term 'saffron terror' was used' and the special NIA court said 'terrorism has no religion, and no religion teaches violence'.
(Edited by Amrtansh Arora)
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