Criticising the Congress, the Bahujan Samaj Party and the Samajwadi Party for their 'minority appeasement policies', the Bharatiya Janata Party said on Friday that the visit of Members of Parliament of these three parties to the house of Abu Bashir, the Students Islamic Movement of India activist arrested for the Ahmedabad serial blasts, showed they were 'cheerleaders of terrorism'.
"The charge of the BJP that the United Progressive Alliance and its allies are soft on terror now witnesses a conclusive evidence with the visit of Ram Naresh Yadav (Congress), Akbar Ahmad Dumpy (BSP) and Abu Azmi (SP) to the Azamgarh village of Mufti Abu Bashir, the SIMI terrorist responsible for the blasts in Ahmedabad," BJP
spokesperson Rajiv Pratap Rudy said.
Breakthrough in Ahmedabad blasts case
BJP was also critical of Syed Ahmad Bukhari, Imam of Delhi's Jama Masjid, for visiting the Bashir's parents.
"The Congress, BSP and SP have become cheerleaders of these terrorist organisations, groups and individuals who are mercilessly targeting and killing innocents across the nation," Rudy said.
How Modi's police cracked the blasts case
"Is this overt, disgusting display of support to elements of terror an attempt to influence the judicial process," he asked.
The saffron party also expressed anger at the Union Home Minister's statement that terrorists were 'boys who have been misled'. In the same breath, Rudy referred to the stand of Rashtriya Janata Dal, Lok Janshakti Party and SP that the ban on SIMI should be lifted.
"This sympathy with terrorists does not only mark supporting terrorism but also ascertains their collusiveness," he said.
The BJP lauded the Gujarat police for speedy detection of the terrorists involved in the Ahmedabad blasts. The party also demanded that the Centre should give its nod to a POTA-like anti-terror law in Gujarat.