BJP hits out at Arshad Madani over Ahmedabad blasts verdict

The BJP has sharply criticised Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind president Arshad Madani for opposing the Gujarat High Court verdict in the 2008 Ahmedabad serial blasts case, alleging he supports convicts due to religious bias.

New Delhi: The BJP slammed Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind president Arshad Madani on Wednesday over his criticism of the Gujarat High Court verdict in the 2008 Ahmedabad serial blasts case, alleging that he has come out in support of the convicts because of their religion.

The ruling party also targeted the Congress, accusing it of defending such voices and indulging in “appeasement politics”, instead of standing with victims of terrorism.

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The attack came a day after the Gujarat High Court upheld a special court’s verdict in the 2008 Ahmedabad serial blasts case, confirming the death penalty for 38 Indian Mujahideen operatives and life imprisonment for 11 others. The high court also directed the Gujarat government to compensate the victims’ families, including the kin of 56 people who were killed in the blasts.

In a post on X, Madani described the high court verdict as “highly unexpected and disappointing” and said his organisation’s “first priority” is to obtain an immediate stay on the death sentences by approaching the Supreme Court.

“Senior criminal law experts have already been instructed to initiate the necessary legal proceedings for this purpose,” he added.

BJP spokesperson Shehzaad Poonawalla alleged that Madani is sympathising with the convicts because of their faith.

“Congress’s puppet Arshad Madani has come out crying for the criminals. The terrorists in the Ahmedabad blasts case have once again been convicted,” the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader said in a post on X.

“But Arshad Madani says the decision is unfortunate and unfair. Once again, they are putting vote-bank politics above the country. They do not care about the victims; they care about the terrorists simply because of their faith or religion,” he alleged.

Poonawalla further alleged that the Congress has a history of defending people convicted in terror-related cases.

“Congress does the same. It protects such people and defends such narratives. It has come out in defence of Afzal Guru and Yakub Memon even after they were convicted by the Supreme Court. It has called Naxals ‘shaheed’. Congress and its ecosystem are busy defending terrorists only for the sake of vote-bank politics,” he said.

Hitting out at Madani, another BJP spokesperson, Pradeep Bhandari, called him the “B team” of the Congress.

“Arshad Madani backing the terrorists of the 2008 Ahmedabad serial blasts exposes the appeasement politics of the Congress. Arshad Madani is nothing but the B-team of the Congress,” he said in a post on X.

Bhandari alleged that Madani’s statement reflects the core ideologies of both the Congress and the Samajwadi Party (SP), and shows that they are willing to go to any extent for the sake of vote-bank politics.

“Backed by the Congress, they are willing to engage in extreme appeasement politics, going so far as to defend terrorists,” he alleged.

Targeting the SP, Bhandari claimed that when Akhilesh Yadav was the chief minister of Uttar Pradesh, the administration had petitioned the high court to get those involved in the Ayodhya and Varanasi blast cases acquitted.

He also attacked the Congress leadership, claiming that Sonia Gandhi had wept for the Batla House terrorists.

The special court’s February 2022 order marked the first time that so many convicts were handed down the death sentence by any court at one go.

The convicts include Safdar Nagori, a former leader of the banned Student Islamic Movement of India (SIMI) outfit, and his associates.

A lawyer representing the convicts has said they will challenge the high court order after studying the verdict.