Malegaon blast case: Ex-Maharashtra CM Prithviraj Chavan's remark on 'Sanatan terror' sparks row; calls for using ‘Hindu terrorism’ instead

NEW DELHI: Former Maharashtra chief minister and senior Congress leader Prithviraj Chavan on Thursday said he does not support the use of the term "saffron terror." He said saffron is the colour of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj's flag, the Warkari sect, as well as Sant Tukaram and Sant Dnyaneshwar.

Chavan was speaking after a special NIA court in Mumbai acquitted all seven accused in the 2008 Malegaon blast case. The court observed that there was "no reliable and cogent evidence" against them. The verdict came 17 years after an explosive device strapped to a motorcycle went off near a mosque in Malegaon, around 200 km from Mumbai, on September 29, 2008, killing six people and injuring 101 others.


On the phrase 'saffron terror', Chavan said, "Don’t use the term 'Saffron terrorism'. If you want to describe such acts, use 'Hindu fundamentalist' or 'Hindu terrorism' instead."



Responding to Union home minister Amit Shah’s comment that "no Hindu can ever be a terrorist," Chavan, while talking to news agency PTI, said, "I want to remind Amit Shah that the first terrorist incident in independent India was carried out by Nathuram Godse. Which religion did he belong to? Terrorism has no religion. This is the BJP's mindset to connect terrorism with religion."

The BJP and several right-wing organisations have criticised the Congress over the years for allegedly coining the term "bhagwa aatankwad" or saffron terror. Chavan said, "A terrorist who kills innocent persons has no religion."

Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis had also commented on the Malegaon verdict on Thursday. He said, "Terrorism was never saffron and will never be."

The special NIA court in Mumbai acquitted all the seven accused in the case, including BJP MP Pragya Singh Thakur and Lt Colonel Prasad Purohit.