The Shiv Sena on Monday welcomed the NIA’s move to discharge Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur and others in the 2008 Malegaon bomb blast case. The party alleged that the Maharashtra ATS had falsely implicated them in the case. The Sena also said that campaigning for ‘Hindu Rashtra’ is not “saffron terrorism”.

“The Supreme Court has held that defamation is a crime. Therefore those who were unnecessarily harassed in the (2008) Malegoan bomb blast case should file defamation cases against ATS officers who falsely implicated them. The Congress and NCP had claimed that the Malegaon bomb blast was ‘saffron terrorism’. The ATS carried out a bogus investigation to prove that Hindutva organisations were behind the blast. Sadhvi Pragya Singh, Lt Col Prasad Shrikant Purohit and others were implicated in it. They were tortured physically and mentally and Hindutva organisations were defamed. They may believe in Hindu nationalism, which is not anti-national. Hindu nationalism is not terrorism,” an editorial in Shiv Sena mouthpiece Saamana said.

The editorial further said certain people, instead of eliminating terrorism fanned by Muslim extremists, with the help of Pakistan chose to create an air of saffron terror in the country.

“The previous Congress government at the Centre and the Congress-NCP government in Maharashtra did not understand that by doing so we are only strengthening the hands of Pakistan. Whenever we asked Pakistan to hand over the terrorists taking refuge there, they asked for Col Purohit,” it said.

The NIA had on Friday dropped all charges against Sadhvi Thakur and five others in the Malegaon blast case while charges under the stringent MCOCA law were dropped against all the other 10 accused, including Col Purohit. Seven people were killed in the blast when they were leaving after prayers during Ramzan on September 29, 2008. During the investigation, “sufficient evidences were not found” against Sadhvi Thakur and five others, the NIA had said, adding it has submitted in the chargesheet “that the prosecution against them is not maintainable”.

The case was investigated initially by joint commissioner of Mumbai’s ATS Hemant Karkare who was killed during the 26/11 Mumbai attack.