The Hindu : National : Malegaon: Veerappa Moily attacks Advani

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Malegaon: Veerappa Moily attacks Advani

Neena Vyas

NEW DELHI: The Congress has attacked the Bharatiya Janata Party’s “prime ministerial aspirant,” L.K. Advani, placing him on a par with Abhinav Bharat, saying the “two As” are “a threat to India’s internal security.”

All-India Congress Committee general secretary Veerappa Moily said Mr. Advani’s rath yatra in 1990 left a “trail of blood, gore and hate” in the riots that followed the path of his journey. Also, his role in the Babri Masjid demolition was the subject of a judicial inquiry, viz., the Liberhans Commission. Mr. Moily said the Congress firmly believed that terrorists had no religion, but Mr. Advani made this an issue. The Maharastra Anti-Terrorism Squad had so far investigated 13 terrorist cases arresting 75 persons – 51 Muslims and 24 Hindus, including the 11 held in the Malegaon case. Did Mr. Advani or anybody else from the sangh-affiliated organisations make an issue of Muslim arrests?

Mr. Moily said he was prepared for any kind of inquiry into allegations of political interference with the job of the ATS. There was not a single instance of political interference. Instead of awaiting the results of a full investigation, the BJP and its leader decided to give “character certificates” to the terror accused.

Mr. Moily said Lt. Col. Shrikant Purohit, an accused in the Malegaon blast case, was interrogated by the police in the presence of a senior army officer. The Army was cooperating with the ATS, so there was no question of the government denigrating the Army, which was “the bravest and the finest in the world.”

NHRC seeks report

PTI reports: Meanwhile, the NHRC has sought a report from the Maharashtra government on alleged custodial torture of sadhvi Pragnya Singh Thakur.

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