Jaitley slams Congress over ‘Hindu terror’ slogan

New Delhi, March 29 (IANS) Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Friday slammed the Congress, while accusing it of coining the "Hindu terror" slogan and filing cases based on fake evidence to gain political mileage.

Days after an anti-terror court in Haryana acquitted Swami Aseemanand in the 2007 bombing of the Samjhauta Express, Jaitley said a decision has to be taken in the end.

"Perhaps because of this, those who considered Hindus as terrorists are now trying to prove their devotion towards religion," he told the media, adding that the trial in court happened on the basis of evidence collected during the UPA regime.

The Bharatiya Janata Party leader said that during the tenure of the UPA, when there was no evidence, the theory of Hindu terror was floated for the first time in the history of the country to tarnish the Hindu community.

"Three-four similar cases were made but none of them could stand in the court. The Congress floated the fake theory of Hindu terror to gain political mileage and tarnished the entire Hindu community. They should apologise to the community," he said.

Last week, a National Investigation Agency (NIA) court here acquitted all four accused, including Aseemanand, in the February 2007 Samjhauta Express train blast which killed 68 people, mostly Pakistanis.

Slamming the Congress, Jaitley said: "The judgment makes it clear that it was a trial of no evidence... So many innocent people died. Who will take responsibility of this? The responsibility lies with the UPA leadership. The society will not forgive them.

"You did not go towards the real culprits. To create a theory of Hindu terror, you caught the wrong people."

The NIA court had in January 2014 framed charges against Aseemanand, Kamal Chauhan, Rajinder Chaudhary and Lokesh Sharma.