Cong Smeared Hindus for Political Gain: Jaitley on Samjhauta Case

Arun Jaitley said that people cannot tolerate an entire community being labelled as terrorists.

(Photo: PTI)

Union Minister Arun Jaitley on Friday, 29 March, cited the Samjhauta train blast case judgment to assert that the probe focused on establishing the Congress' "political theory of Hindu terror," as he accused the Opposition party of "smearing" Hindus on the basis of "forged" evidence for political benefits.

Jaitley also said that people cannot tolerate an entire community being labelled as terrorists.

Reading parts of the judgment slamming the National Investigation Agency (NIA) for miserably failing to prove allegations against the accused – all of whom, including Swami Aseemanand, were acquitted – Jaitley said the investigation was carried out between 2007-09 when the UPA was in power.

Jaitley said wrong set of people were "framed" by forging evidence and the entire Hindu community was "smeared", something, he added, that happened for the first time in history.

"Who will take accountability for this? It rests with the leadership of the Congress. The society will never forgive them," the BJP leader, accompanied by Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and party's media head Anil Baluni, told a press conference.

Innocents were killed in the blast but investigators focused not on real culprits but on establishing the political theory of Hindu terrorism, he said, alleging that the Congress gave the slogan of "Hindu terrorism" for its "vote bank" politics.

In other cases also evidence were forged to probe this theory, he added, for political benefits.

‘Govt Has No Respect for Institutions’

National Conference leader Omar Abdullah, meanwhile, said that reports about prosecution withholding critical information about the Samjhauta Express blast case from the court was a reflection of the respect the BJP-led central government had for institutions of the country.

"The judge presiding over the special NIA court has himself said that the prosecution withheld critical information that would have allowed a guilty verdict to be passed. Clearly, this government has no respect for institutions," Abdullah told reporters at a press conference.

The former chief minister said the disrespect for the institutions was seen across the length and breadth of the government.

"We are yet to see a decision from the Election commission of India where the Prime Minister uses a space-related announcement to further the BJP's campaign. And now what we have seen with the courts and the way in which Samjhauta trial has been sabotaged by withholding the evidence," he said.

CPI(M) meanwhile said that the acquittal of Aseemanand and three others is a reminder that "terrorists of extreme Hindutva variety" are not brought to justice in India.

In an editorial in its mouthpiece People’s Democracy, the Left party said that between 2006 and 2008 six “terrorist” incidents were perpetrated by a network of extreme Hindutva groups.

"The acquittal of Aseemanand and three others in the Samjhauta train blast case is a shameful reminder that the criminal justice system in India is incapable of bringing terrorists of the extremist Hindutva variety to justice for their crimes," it said.

The court, which released the verdict in its entirety on Thursday, said it has to "conclude this judgment with deep pain and anguish as a dastardly act of violence remained unpunished for want of credible and admissible evidence. There are gaping holes in the prosecution evidence and an act of terrorism has remained unsolved."

The blast in Samjhauta Express between India and Pakistan took place near Panipat in Haryana on 18 February 2007, when the train was on its way to Attari, the last railway station on the Indian side.

(With inputs from PTI)