The Shiv Sena has said on Monday that it is wrong to equate 'Hindutva and Hindu nationalism' with terror. "Instead of crushing terrorism perpetrated by some Muslim fundamentalists with the help from Pakistan, a bogey of 'Hindu terror' was created to appease the minority community," the Shiv Sena said in an edit in the party mouthpiece Saamana.
"The ATS had carried out a bogus investigation and falsely implicated certain Hindu organisations for carrying out the Malegaon blasts," an editorial in Sena mouthpiece 'Saamana' said.
"Sadhvi Pragya Singh, Lt Col Purohit and others who were implicated went through intense emotional and physical torture. These people can be believers of a Hindu Rashtra but that does not make them saffron terrorists," it said.
Hindu nationalists like Sadhvi Pragnya Singh Thakur, Lt Col Prasad S Purohit and others were "deliberately implicated" in terror acts by the erstwhile Congress-led governments at the Centre and in Maharashtra.
"But they failed to realise that by doing this, they were actually strengthening Pakistan's hands. Whenever India demanded handing over of terrorists, Pakistan felt emboldened to demand handing over persons like Purohit. This golden opportunity was given on a platter by the Congress to Pakistan," the Sena said.
"Obviously, this was due to political interference in the Malegaon blasts. Persons like P Chidambaram, Sharad Pawar and (the late) RR Patil thumped their chests and shouted that 'Muslims were being targetted' and gave a saffron colour to terror," said the Sena.
The motives behind "discrediting Hindus in their own country" is suspectable, the Sena said Hindus "are not extremists like the fanatic Muslims in Pakistan or Afghanistan and (Hindus) would not destroy their own country".
"Why would Hindus spread terror in their own country?" it said, "The UPA government for political gains had put pressure on the investigating agency and thereby indulged in deceit. This was a sin and the relevance of the people who committed that has ceased to exist."
"For these acts, the concerned officials should be exposed and booked as Sadhvi Pragnya and others languished behind bars for eight years, which can never be compensated," the Sena demanded.
By Premji
