Malegaon Blasts Accused Acquitted; Shankaracharya Swami Avimukteshwaranand Says Colour Has No Place In Defining Terror

Mumbai: The debate over the term 'Saffron Terror' continues after the Verdict in the Malegaon Blasts case. Commenting on the term, Shankaracharya Swami Avimukteshwaranand Saraswati Maharaj underlined that colour means nothing with the word terrorism and noted that those who associate a colour with terrorism are the supporters of terrorism.

The Shankarachary said, "A terrorist is a terrorist...What does colour mean with the word terrorism? Terrorism is terrorism, and a zero-tolerance policy should be adopted against it... The Malegaon blast happened, but you could not find the person who committed it...Those who look for colours in terrorism are supporters of terrorism."

The term 'Bhagwa Aatank' or 'saffron terrorism' is believed to have been first coined after the 2002 Gujarat riots; however, it also gained prominence after the 2008 Malegaon blasts, with some political parties using the term. The term was also reference by then Home Minister P Chidambaram during an official meeting with police chiefs. Congress leader Digvijay Singh has also used the term to criticise the Malegaon Blasts at the time.

On July 31, Mumbai's NIA special court acquitted all seven accused of the 2008 Malegaon blasts, with the court saying that the prosecution failed to establish the case beyond a reasonable doubt. The NIA court has also ordered the Maharashtra government to award Rs 2 lakh compensation to the families of the victims and Rs 50,000 compensation to the injured.

A total of 7 people were accused, including former MP Sadhvi Pragya, Major (retired) Ramesh Upadhyay, Sudhakar Chaturvedi, Ajay Rahirkar, Sudhankar Dhar Dwivedi (Shankaracharya) and Sameer Kulkarni.

"All bail bonds of the accused are cancelled and sureties are discharged," the NIA special court said.

The court had examined 323 prosecution witnesses and eight defence witnesses before pronouncing the verdict. The seven people have been acquitted of all charges under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, Arms Act and all other charges.

On September 29, 2008, six people were killed and 95 others injured when an explosive device strapped to a motorcycle detonated near a mosque in Malegaon City's Bhikku Chowk. Originally, 11 people were accused in the case; however, the court ultimately framed charges against 7. The lawyer representing the victims' families said that he will be challenging the acquittal of the 7 people in the High Court.

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