Key Points

He told reporters that the Congress-led UPA government had tried to set the narrative of Hindu terrorism, adding that it tried to propagate that Hindus are terrorists.

“How false it was proved today by the court. Congress should apologise to those against whom action was taken. Congress should apologise to the entire Hindu community,” he said.

“I will not blame the police. Police were under pressure. After the 9/11 attacks, Islamic terrorism came into existence. Thereafter, the UPA government had set the narrative of Hindu and saffron terrorism. Terrorism was never saffron, is not, and will never be.”

Meanwhile, Revenue Minister Chandrashekhar Bawankule said the verdict is not merely a judicial decision but an exposure of a long-running political conspiracy to defame.

“The court clearly noted that there was no concrete evidence behind any of the allegations. But a more serious matter is that the Congress deliberately used the term Hindu terrorism in its propaganda, attempting to defame the Hindu community and its faith worldwide,” he claimed.

He added that Congress committed an unforgivable crime by trying to place Hinduism in the ranks of terrorists, which has rather been a symbol of humanity and tolerance for centuries.

“Today, the court has upheld the truth, and now Congress must apologise to the Hindu community! A Hindu has never been a terrorist and never will be. The court’s decision today has delivered a resounding slap to those who defamed Hindus,” he said.

Ports and Shipping Minister Nitesh Rane said the verdict has been a major slap to those who made attempts to defame the Hindu community.

“No one should try to defame the Hindu community in future. The same thing is being proven again and again, that the colour of terrorism and jihad is green. During the Congress period, false cases were filed against Hindutva activists, and they were trapped,” he alleged.

Rane said that efforts to trap the Hindutva activists are not possible when there is a state and a central government with Hindutva ideology, adding that it has been proven once again that Hindus are safe in the Hindu nation.

“These people, who defamed, should apologise to the Hindu community. They should go to the temple and apologise to the Hindu community,” he said.

State BJP chief spokesman Keshav Upadhye said that the verdict has dealt a severe blow to the Congress for its attempt to sow venom against the Hindu community by creating a fake narrative called “saffron terrorism” and “Hindu terrorism.”

“The verdict has shattered the Congress's conspiracy to smear the minority community by making seven Hindu nationalists accused in this case, and it has become clear from this verdict that a Hindu can never be a terrorist. The court has strengthened the side of justice by acquitting the accused in this case,” he observed.

Upadhye alleged that in this incident that took place 17 years ago, the Congress government accused Sadhvi Pragya Singh, Colonel Purohit, Ramesh Upadhyay, Ajay Rahirkar, Sudhakar Chaturvedi, Sameer Kulkarni and Sudhakar Dwivedi of being criminals and “tortured” them inhumanely.

“To convince the people of the fake narrative of Hindu terrorism, these accused were subjected to unprecedented torture to make them confess to the crime. It has now been proven that this was a widespread conspiracy to defame the Hindu community and thereby gain political benefits by oppressing the minority community,” claimed Upadhye.

Meanwhile, the Shiv Sena MP Shrikant Shinde said that P Chidambaram, who tried to create the narrative of ‘saffron terrorism’, also said, what proof is there that the attackers behind the Pahalgam attack came from Pakistan?

“Was Chidambaram calling Indian people terrorists? Congress should ask him these questions. To hide their failure in eliminating terrorism, he tried to create a narrative like 'saffron terrorism'. Today, the truth has come before the people,” he claimed.

- IANS