Nearly 17 years after the Malegaon blast claimed six lives, a special court in Mumbai on Thursday acquitted all seven accused, including former BJP MP Pragya Singh Thakur and Lt Col Prasad Purohit, noting there was "no reliable and cogent evidence" against them.
Reacting to the developments, the Congress said terrorism cannot be divided into Hindu and Muslim.
Congress MP Imran Masood
Congress MP Imran Masood, said, "Then who did it? The police had connected all the links and sent them, so who did all this... There is no doubt that a blast occurred in Malegaon... Terrorism cannot be divided into Hindu and Muslim..."
Congress MP Imran Pratapgarhi
Congress MP Imran Pratapgarhi said, "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 RK Singh. The BJP kept him as a minister and MP for 10 years, sitting alongside them... This is a verdict, not justice... BJP was not accepting them to be the accused..."
Shiv Sena MP Shrikant Shinde
Shiv Sena MP Shrikant Shinde said the acquittal of 2008 Malegaon blast case accused was a slap on the face of the Congress, and demanded an apology from the party for its "saffron terror" narrative.
He also hit out at the Shiv Sena (UBT) for aligning with the Congress and "abandoning" the principles of Hindutva and Bal Thackeray's ideals. "A wrong case was registered against Pragya Singh Thakur, Col Purohit and others. “Why did it happen? This was because India witnessed Pakistan-sponsored terror. To hide this, the saffron terror narrative started by the Congress," Shinde said.
Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma
Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma says, "Union HM also told in the House yesterday that Hindus by philosophy, cannot be terrorists because our culture and our civilisation never encourages terrorism. But during the Congress rule, a terminology was coined to appease a particular community- 'Hindu terror'. Hindus and terror are two opposite concepts. Hindus never believe in terror, and Hindus can never be terrorists. For me-- it is a matter of immense satisfaction that whatever the Union HM told in the Parliament, today a Mumbai Court also demolished the concept of Hindu terror and whoever was accused in the name of 'Hindu terror', all the accused were acquitted and released...."
BJP MP Dinesh Sharma
BJP MP Dinesh Sharma said, "Today is a historic day and also a day of joy because the UPA government had played a game of misusing government institutions... The UPA government had given rise to a new form of terrorism, which they started calling 'Hindu terrorism.' To prove this narrative of the UPA government correct, they imprisoned leaders with Sanatan tendencies under false accusations. Today it has been proven that there is no such thing as 'Hindu terrorism'... A Hindu cannot be a terrorist, and if someone is a terrorist, they cannot be a Hindu'—this statement has been proven meaningful today..."
