Apologise for defaming Hindus: BJP asks Congress after Mecca Masjid blast verdict

New Delhi: After a special NIA court in Hyderabad acquitted all the accused, including right-wing activist Swami Aseemanand, in the 2007 Mecca Masjid blast case, the BJP on Monday launched a sharp attack on the Congress, claiming that the opposition party’s “appeasement politics” of “defaming” Hindus has been exposed.

A special anti-terror court acquitted Aseemanand and four others in the case, saying that the country's top anti-terror body, the National Investigation Agency (NIA), had failed to prove anyone's guilt.

A massive blast had ripped through the Mecca Masjid on May 18, 2007, during Friday prayers, killing nine people and wounding 58 others.

Also Read: 2007 Mecca Masjid blast case: Swami Aseemanand, all others acquitted

Responding to the court verdict, BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra alleged that the Congress has long "defamed" Hindus for votes and demanded that party president Rahul Gandhi and his predecessor Sonia Gandhi apologise for terms such as "saffron terror" and "Hindu terror".

Patra further said people will teach the Congress "a lesson" in the Karnataka Assembly polls as they had in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections when it was reduced to 44 seats.

Hitting back at the Congress leaders for blaming the BJP government for the acquittal of the accused, he alleged that the opposition party has "double standards" and as it had welcomed a court order in favour of accused in the 2G scam case. Patra also noted that the Congress was in power for seven years after the blasts and asked what it had done during the period.

"For its appeasement politics, the Congress targeted and defamed Hindus and the country for merely some votes. That conspiracy has been exposed. The Congress has been exposed like never before," he said.

Patra also took a dig at Rahul Gandhi and wondered if the Congress chief would lead a candle march to India Gate and apologise for his attempts to "defame" Hindus.

Patra also raked up several comments by Congress leaders and a US diplomatic cable which had allegedly quoted Rahul Gandhi as saying that radicalised Hindu groups posed a bigger danger to the country.

He also claimed that Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah was also practising appeasement politics, an euphemism used by the BJP for alleged pro-Muslim politics of some parties.

Patra also accused Siddaramaiah of "hobnobbing" with a Muslim outfit, Popular Front of India, while it is being probed by the National Investigation Agency.

(With PTI inputs)