No such thing as 'saffron terror': Congress
New Delhi, April 16: The Congress on Monday said that neither its President Rahul Gandhi nor any other party functionary ever used the term "saffron terror" and that its adversaries were levelling baseless allegations in this regard.
"Show me a video or a sound clip where Rahul Gandhi or any other Congress functionary is seen using the term ‘Bhagva aatankwad' (saffron terror). There is no such thing as saffron terror," Congress Spokesman P.L. Punia said.
"We believe that terrorism cannot be associated with any religion or community," he added.
The Congress' response came after a National Investigation Agency (NIA) court in Hyderabad acquitted all five accused in the city's Mecca Masjid blast case in which nine persons were killed and 50 injured during the Friday prayers in 2007.
Hindu right-wing group Abhinav Bharat members Nabakumar Sarkar alias Swamy Aseemanand, Devender Gupta, Lokesh Sharma, Bharat Mohanlal Rateshwar alias Bharat Bhai and Rajender Chowdhary, who were charged by the NIA, were all acquitted.
However, Punia said that questions remained over how the confessional statements and many other documents went missing from the prosecution's files.
"But it won't be proper to comment before going through the complete order of the court. But the court has said that the prosecution has failed to prove the case," Punia said.
Soon after the court's order, the BJP accused the Congress of "defaming" the Hindu religion by coining the term "saffron terror" and demanded apologies from Rahul Gandhi and Sonia Gandhi.
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Informing Pakistan ahead of Operation Sindoor was a crime: Rahul Gandhi on Jaishankar's 'admission'
New Delhi, May 17 (PTI): Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Saturday hit out at the government for "informing" Pakistan about targeting terror infrastructure as part of Operation Sindoor, saying it was a crime and asking who had authorised it.
In a post on X, Gandhi questioned External Affairs Minister (EAM) S Jaishankar for publicly admitting that the government of India (GOI) had informed Pakistan of the action and asked how many aircraft the Indian Air Force lost as a result.
"Informing Pakistan at the start of our attack was a crime. EAM has publicly admitted that GOI did it. Who authorised it? How many aircraft did our air force lose as a result?" said Gandhi, the leader of opposition in the Lok Sabha.
He also shared an undated video of Jaishankar saying India had informed Pakistan of the action against terror infrastructure on its soil.
Jaishankar can be heard saying in the video, "At the start of the operation, we had sent a message to Pakistan, saying, 'We are striking at terrorist infrastructure and we are not striking at the military.'"
"So the military has the option of standing out and not interfering in this process. They chose not to take that good advice," the minister can be heard saying in the clip.
The Press Information Bureau (PIB), however, has debunked claims that Jaishankar had said India informed Pakistan ahead of Operation Sindoor. In a post on X, the PIB's Fact Check Unit said the minister had not made any such statement and that he was being misquoted.
Operation Sindoor was the Indian offensive against terror camps in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) following the April 22 terror attack in Pahalgam.
Informing Pakistan at the start of our attack was a crime.
— Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) May 17, 2025
EAM has publicly admitted that GOI did it.
1. Who authorised it?
2. How many aircraft did our airforce lose as a result? pic.twitter.com/KmawLLf4yW
