Rahul Gandhi must apologise for his remarks on "Hindu terror", BJP chief Amit Shah demanded
Rahul Gandhi must apologise to Hindus for labeling them "terrorists", BJP chief Amit Shah said on Wednesday while slamming the Congress president for "indulging in communal and vote bank politics."
Speaking at a function in Bengaluru yesterday, Mr Shah said, "In pursuit of vote bank politics, the Congress popularised (the phrase) 'Hindu Terror' and tried to implicate some Hindu activists in the Meccas Masjid blast case in Hyderabad over a decade ago." He went on to say that "Now an NIA court has acquitted them."
The National Investigation Agency or NIA court in Hyderabad acquitted all five "Hindu activists" on Monday. This included Swamy Aseemanand who was accused of triggering a bomb blast in the mosque that killed nine worshipers near the iconic Charminar in Hyderabad on May 18, 2007.
Mr Shah also alleged that "The Congress also tried to substantiate its charge by foisting false cases against Hindus and pressuring investigating agencies to implicate them in the blast case."
"Congress leaders, including P. Chidambaram, Sushil Kumar Shinde and Digvijay Singh carried out 'Hindu Terror' campaigns and tried to defame Hindus both within, and outside the country in order to appease a section of society," Mr Shah said.
The Bharatiya Janata Party or BJP chief went on to say that the court verdict which acquitted all the accused, "exposed the Congress party and its leaders." He went on to say that "If the Congress does not apologise even now, then people will definitely punish them."
Elaborating his statement, Mr Shah said "The people of Karnataka are waiting to punish the Congress in the May 12 state assembly elections."
Speaking about Rahul Gandhi in the context of the Hyderabad blasts, Mr Shah recalled a conversation in which Rahul Gandhi told then US envoy Timothy Roemer in 2009 that "Hindu Terror" was something to be more worried about than even Pakistan's terror outfit Laskar-e-Taiba. Mr Gandhi had made this remark to the US envoy nearly a year after LeT had carried out the 26/11 Mumbai terror attack.
Mr Roemer mentioned Rahul Gandhi's remark in his report to the US State Department on August 3, 2009.
Furthering his attack on the Congress, Mr Shah said, "Anti-national criminals have had a free run in Karnataka as the ruling Congress regime was soft on them. As many as 24 Hindu activists were allegedly killed in the state over the last two years, but none had been brought to book."
Admitting that it was important for the BJP to win in the upcoming Assembly election in Karnataka, Mr Shah said the party was confident of a win and that his party had faith in the people of the state.
"I am sure of our party winning in the upcoming elections as the people across the state were fed up of corruption and crime in the Congress reign," Mr Shah said.
(With inputs from IANS)