Malegaon case verdict is quite baffling

Not quite unexpectedly, the special National Investigation Agency (NIA) court in Mumbai gave the accused in the 2008 Malegaon bomb blast case the benefit of doubt in the absence of definitive proof and acquitted them. To make sense, the investigation, the prosecution and the verdict should not be looked at in isolation from the present political climate. The fact that, from inside the courtroom, Pragya Singh Thakur declared the verdict “a victory for Hindutva” was highly significant.

The acquittal left us with the question, if not the accused, who else planned and carried out the bomb blast? Certainly, it would not have been done by ghosts or aliens. In this case, the law appears to have ended its own course without meeting the end of justice and giving the victims’ families a sense of closure. Union Home Minister Amit Shah sounded prescient when he said a day before the pronouncement of “not guilty” verdict that “no Hindu can ever be a terrorist”. The Sangh Parivar hailed the verdict as a vindication of its rejection of “saffron terror” as a mere bogey created by the Congress-led UPA regime. In this case justice has not only been delayed, but also denied, troubling the nation’s conscience.

G David Milton, Maruthancode (TN)

BJP must appeal against acquittal

Thespecial court had acquitted all seven accused in 2006 Malegaon blast case citing lack of evidence, tampering of evidence and discrepancies in prosecution's case, among others. This is leading to a public mistrust in our justice system, as to the way the accused after prolonged investigation and trial process spanning two rival political party's rule escape punishment. The Congress and AIMIM have rightfully urged the BJP to appeal against the verdict, as they had appealed against 7/11 Mumbai train blasts verdict in the Supreme Court.

P R Ravinder, Hyderabad

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