Shivraj Patil denies using term 'saffron terror'

Latur (Maharashtra), April 16: Shortly after a Hyderabad court acquitted five accused in the 2007 Mecca Mosque bomb blast case, former Union Home Minister Shivraj Patil here on Monday denied having ever used the term “saffron terror”. Interacting with mediapersons, Patil, 73, sought to know whether the chargesheet mentions “saffron or Hindu terror”. “Have I ever used this?... It’s a case of terrorism. Does the court chargesheet say these words (saffron or Hindu terror),” countered Patil, who was the erstwhile UPA’s Union Home minister between May 2004 and November 2008.

To a question whether senior Congress leaders including former Union Home Ministers P. Chidambaram and Sushilkumar Shinde as well as former Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Digvijay Singh have made such statements, he said: “You should address this question to whosoever said it.” Told that they are all Congress leaders and his senior colleagues, Patil asked whether “there is any resolution to the effect passed by the Congress”. (IANS)

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