Senior Congress leader and former Maharashtra Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan sparked controversy on Thursday, 31 July 2025, with remarks following the acquittal of all seven accused in the 2008 Malegaon blast case. Speaking to reporters, Chavan alleged that the investigation was deliberately weakened under the BJP-led central government and raised concerns about the handling of terrorism cases. He insisted that one must use the words ‘Hindu terror’ or ‘Sanatani terror ‘instead of ‘Bhagwa terror’.
“Someone definitely carried out the blast in Malegaon. I already knew this would be the outcome of the case because it was initiated during the UPA government, and later, the BJP came to power. The NIA weakened the case. Under whose leadership is the NIA working?” Chavan said.
He also questioned the absence of accountability for victims and survivors of terror attacks: “The government should tell us if those acquitted didn’t carry out the blast, then who did? The same thing happened in the train blast case. What answer will you give to the families of those who lost their lives?”
On the language often used in relation to such incidents, Chavan said: “Saffron (Bhagwa) is a sacred word for the 14 crore Maharashtrians. Saffron was the colour of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj’s flag which was a symbol of freedom. The saffron colour was the colour of Sant Gnyaneshwar, the colour of our Warkaris, and the colour of Sant Tukaram. And this is much before independence of Bharat. What we call Maharashtra Dharam, the idea of the state comes from there. It is wrong to say saffron, political parties are using it and it is wrong. If you want to take the name of a religion, then you can say, Hindu terror or Hindu fundamentalist terror or Sanatani terror but don’t call it Bhagwa/saffron terror. Devendraji says a particular religion’s people are not terrorists. I want to humbly tell him, remind him that.”
Congress leader Prithviraj Chavan says:
👉 “Don’t say saffron terror… Say Hindu terror or Sanatan terror!”
This is the real mindset of Congress.
Anti India & Anti Hindu.#MalegaonVerdict pic.twitter.com/EBKVIPsVwM— Pradeep Bhandari(प्रदीप भंडारी)🇮🇳 (@pradip103) July 31, 2025
A few days ago, Chavan accused the BJP of communalising national security by naming military operations after Hindu symbols, such as ‘Operation Mahadev’ and ‘Operation Sindoor’. He alleged the BJP was injecting religious fundamentalism into defence matters to polarise society along Hindu-Muslim lines. Chavan questioned the relevance of religious codenames and criticised Defence Minister Rajnath Singh’s speech on Operation Sindoor for lacking transparency. He also raised doubts about the government’s claim of killing over 100 terrorists and highlighted the lack of clarity on Indian fighter jet losses, suggesting the government was hiding key facts about the conflict with Pakistan.
The 2008 Malegaon blast occurred on September 29 in Maharashtra, killing six people and injuring over a hundred. The case, investigated initially under the UPA regime and later transferred to the National Investigation Agency (NIA), has remained a politically sensitive subject for over 17 years.
(With inputs from News18)
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