New Delhi, Apr 22 (PTI) The BJP on Wednesday said the discharge of four men accused in the 2006 Malegaon serial bomb blasts is a “tight slap” on the face of senior Congress leaders and demanded an apology from Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi for allegedly hatching a conspiracy to defame Hindu religion.
Addressing a press conference here, BJP national spokesperson Gaurav Bhatia alleged that the term “saffron terror” had been “invented” then at the Congress office at the behest of Sonia Gandhi to defame Hindus and Hindu religion.
The BJP’s attack came after the Bombay High Court discharged four men accused in the 2006 Malegaon serial bomb blasts, quashing all the charges against them, including of terror, and leaving unanswered the question of who was responsible for the explosions that killed 31 people.
Reacting to the court’s judgement, Bhatia said, “It is indeed a tight slap on the face of the leaders of the Congress party, who have been indulging in appeasement politics and cheap politics to defame the tolerant Hindus and Hindu religion.” He said the Malegaon blast had happened during the Congress-led UPA rule. “However, the Congress invented saffron terror at its headquarters here on the instructions of Sonia Gandhi to hide its failure, pursue its appeasement politics and please Rahul Gandhi,” he charged.
Bhatia said that the Congress stands exposed today with the Bombay High Court discharging four accused in the case, and demanded that Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi must apologise to the country, especially Hindu society, for hatching such a “disgusting conspiracy” to defame Hindus.
The BJP leader demanded that former Union home ministers Shivraj Patil and P Chidambaram must also apologise.
“Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi and Mallikjarjun Kharge should also resign from the posts they hold for committing such a sin,” he added.
On September 8, 2006, four bombs exploded in Nashik district’s Malegaon town in North Maharashtra, three inside the premises of Hamidia Masjid and Bada Kabrastan just after Friday prayers, and the fourth in Mushawarat Chowk, claiming 31 lives and injuring 312 people.
The probe in the blasts witnessed several twists and turns with the investigating agencies initially claiming that the conspiracy was hatched by Muslim accused. But, the National Investigation Agency (NIA), which later probed the case, said right-wing extremists were behind the powerful explosions. PTI PK PK KVK KVK
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