'Hindu Terrorism': Congress Leader Reacts To 'Saffron Terror' Narrative After Malegaon Verdict

Reacting on Amit Shah's statement that no Hindu can ever be a terrorist, Prithviraj Chavan said that the first terrorist incident in independent India was carried out by Nathuram Godse.

Image: ANI

Former Chief Minister of Maharashtra and Congress leader Prithviraj Chavan on Thursday maintained the existence of 'Hindu terrorism' hours after an NIA court acquited all six accused in the Malegaon blasts case, a verdict termed victory by the BJP against Congress party's 'saffron terror' narrative. Prithviraj Chavan said that while using the 'saffron terror' term may not be appropriate, it should be called 'Hindu terrorism'.

"Don’t use the term 'Saffron terrorism'. If you want to describe such acts, use 'Hindu fundamentalist' or 'Hindu terrorism' instead," Chavan told PTI.

Reacting on Amit Shah's statement that no Hindu can ever be a terrorist, Chavan said that the first terrorist incident in independent India was carried out by Nathuram Godse, who killed Mahatma Gandhi. "Which religion did he belong to? Terrorism has no religion. This is the BJP's mindset to connect terrorism with religion," said Chavan, contradicting himself minutes after reaffirming 'Hindu terrorism' stance.

"After the 42nd Amendment by PM Indira Gandhi, a part was added in fundamental duties of citizens. It was stated that it shall be the duty of the citizens to inculcate the scientific temper, humanism, and the spirit of inquiry... I am just asking the government whether what they are saying is in accordance with temper and the spirit of inquiry. We all are Hindu, but we are not Hindutva fundamentalists," asked Chavan.

Earlier during the day, Maharashtra CM Devendra Fadnavis said, "The way the Congress-led UPA government conspired to set the narrative of saffron terrorism, Hindu terrorism and prepared the entire Malegaon case, today it has been exposed... Congress tried to bring the narrative to please its vote bank, especially the vote bank of a particular religion. The work done by Congress to label all Hindus as terrorists, today, the whole country is condemning it. We demand that Congress apologise for calling out terms like Hindu terrorism and saffron terrorism." 

Mumbai Special National Investigative Agency Court (NIA) on Thursday acquitted all seven accused of being involved in the 2008 blasts in Malegaon, with the court saying the prosecution failed to establish the case beyond a reasonable doubt. A total of seven people were accused, including former MP Sadhvi Pragya, Major (retired) Ramesh Upadhyay, Sudhakar Chaturvedi, Ajay Rahirkar, Sudhankar Dhar Dwivedi (Shankaracharya) and Sameer Kulkarni.