The Bharatiya Janata Party sought to project Swami Aseemanand's reported confession of his involvement in Samjhauta blast as a diversionary tactic by Congress in the wake of latest revelations in the Bofors case, accusing the ruling party of giving leverage to Pakistani terrorists by throwing the blame on Hindu radicals for their acts.
"There is a clear pattern behind this. Day before yesterday, media widely covered the statement of former driver of Ottavio Quattrocchi and the security officer of the Gandhi family to demonstrate the very intimate relationship between Quattrocchi and late Rajiv Gandhi and Sonia Gandhi," BJP spokesperson Ravi Shankar Prasad told PTI.
Claiming that there was no denial from the Congress on the allegations, he said, "Suddenly we find selective leaks by the investigating agency seeking to link Aseemanand with some leaders of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh. This is condemnable and a design to divert attention."
The BJP leader maintained that this would weaken the fight against terror.
"When you use and abuse CBI and other investigative agencies for the personal agenda of Congress, more particularly to divert attention from scams after scams against the Congress, then you are compromising the fight against terror," Prasad said.
He alleged that those who are doing this, including Congress leaders, do not understand the long term damage they are causing to the fight against terror.
"The United Progressive Alliance had told the entire world including the United Nations that terrorists from Pakistan were involved in the Samjhauta Express blast. Now if you say they were Hindu radicals, then you are giving leverage to terrorists in Pakistan to deny their involvement in any terrorist attack in India and throwing the blame on Hindu radicals," Prasad said.
The development concerning Aseemanand has come a day before the national executive of the BJP is meeting in Guwahati.
The BJP reaction came close on the heels of Congress stopping short of asking for a ban on the RSS after Swami Aseemanand's reported confession of his involvement in Samjhauta blast.
The Congress termed the development as indicative of "Sanghi terrorism" and advocated strict action against such organisations and people. "Reports about the confessions of Aseemanand which have appeared in media have brought out the new terror face of RSS." This is Sanghi terrorism which poses a big threat to the country," party spokesperson Shakeel Ahmed said.
