'We were expecting death sentences, but now the court has acquitted them, despite Aseemanand himself admitting to his crime in front of a judge.' More importantly, it seems the tag of 'Hindu Terror' coined by the United Progressive Alliance government was wrong all along. Amjedullah Khan, spokesperson for the Majlis Bachao Tehreek, has been tracking the Mecca Masjid blast case from day one and was also involved in securing the release of more than 100 Muslims youths who were falsely accused in different terror cases in the aftermath of the blast. He spoke to Syed Firdaus Ashraf/Rediff.com about the acquittal of Swami Aseemanand and what it means.
'He has terror charges against him. And for an army officer, it's just terrible.'
The Congress has kept quiet on the way the Union home ministry has handled innumerable blast cases under its rule. It has not openly condemned the bias that pervades within its government and the security agencies, says Neeta Kolhatkar.
'They have realised that class war is not possible in India, so they are trying to bring about a caste war.'
'Counter terrorism does not appear to be good guys fighting the bad ones; it is about people being picked up, detained and charged with crimes they did not commit.'
While six of the 14 suspects were picked up on Friday from Karnataka, four are from Hyderabad and two each from Mumbai and Uttar Pradesh.
The 61-year-old former top cop from Mumbai changed professions after listening to his 'inner voice'.
'My husband will never forget the torture nor forgive those responsible for it.'
'The path you were planning to choose was wrong. The safest place in this world is India. Why do you want to waste your life?' How the Mumbai Anti Terror Squad is trying to rehabilitate a young man who may have wanted to join ISIS.
