When history is written truthfully, one of the darkest, most diabolical episodes of political deceit in post-independence India will be the Congress party’s sinister attempt to brand an entire faith—Hinduism—as a source of terrorism. Today’s (July 31) verdict by the Special NIA Court, acquitting all seven accused in the 2008 Malegaon blast case—including former BJP MP, Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur and Lt. Col. Prasad Purohit—should not just be a moment of vindication. It must become a launching pad for action. Action against those in power, then who willfully cooked up the “Hindu terror” narrative to appease a vote bank and malign the country’s civilizational ethos.
Yes, a conspiracy—crafted in the corridors of UPA power and executed by pliant police officers—designed to invent a counter-narrative to Islamist terror, even as India reeled under one Islamist attack after another. Under the leadership of then Home Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde, and with the blessings of top Congress functionaries including P. Chidambaram and Digvijay Singh, the term “Hindu terror” was coined and systematically spread. This wasn’t just political gimmickry—it was treachery of the highest order.
Lt. Col. Prasad Purohit, a serving army officer, was jailed for over nine years. Sadhvi Pragya Thakur, a spiritual sanyasin, was tortured in custody. According to credible testimonies, including those brought up in Parliament and in public discourse, she was beaten brutally—even on her private parts—by a rogue cop, Param Vir Singh (IPS), who acted like a loyal foot soldier of his political masters. Her crime? A saffron robe. A loud defence of Hindutva. That was enough to paint her as the face of “terror” in the eyes of a government that could see only votes, not truth.
Meanwhile, Islamist terror outfits—from SIMI to Lashkar to Indian Mujahideen—were continuing their deadly rampage. But to the Congress, the priority was to build a false equivalence. To show the world that “Hindus can be terrorists too.” And in doing so, they stooped to the unforgivable: They framed innocents, defamed the Indian Army, and turned a heinous blast that killed civilians into a political opportunity.
What is even more shameful is the selective silence of the liberal establishment. Where are the award-winning intellectuals now? Where are the Lutyens media gatekeepers who screamed “saffron terror” in bold headlines for years? Will they now apologise for ruining lives, reputations, and polarising the nation with lies?
More than 15 years later, the truth has finally clawed its way back from the grave Congress tried to bury it in. The Malegaon verdict is not just an acquittal—it is a moral rebuke. A slap on the face of those who abused power to frame patriots.
But a verdict alone isn’t enough. The Modi government must now act decisively. The rogue IPS officer, Param Vir Singh, and his deputy Sachin Waze, who led the witch-hunt—who, not surprisingly, also falsely targeted Republic TV’s Arnab Goswami in another politically motivated case—must face justice. He is not above the law simply because he once wore the uniform. Nor are the politicians who directed this drama from behind the curtain. If this nation is serious about restoring faith in its institutions, it must hold even the most “eminent” conspirators accountable—be it Chidambaram, Digvijay, or Shinde.
This isn’t about revenge. It’s about justice. About drawing a line in the sand: Never again should any government be allowed to manufacture terror labels to suit electoral arithmetic. Never again should patriots be paraded as traitors just to balance out an Islamist threat. Never again should the majority faith of over a billion people be insulted in the name of “secularism.”
The Congress tried to divide India’s soul for votes. The least this government can do now is ensure those who dared do so face the consequences. The Sadhvi and the Colonel deserve more than just acquittal. They deserve honour, compensation, and a national apology.
And the conspirators? They deserve prosecution—swift, unflinching, and public.
