VHP defends Sadhvi Pragya, Col Purohit

The Vishwa Hindu Parishad on Monday came in defence of Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur and Lt Colonel Prasad Purohit, prime accused in the Malegaon blasts, and called the imposition of Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act against them as 'political conspiracy'.

"MCOCA was not imposed on the Mumbai terrorist attacker Kasab, but the same act has been applied in the case of Sadhvi and Purohit," said the International General Secretary of VHP Praveen Togadia, adding, "both of them are a victim of political conspiracy".

Thirty-five people were killed in the blast in the powerloom city of Malegaon in Nashik district in September 2006. Addressing media persons in Indore, Togadia said that the VHP will support all those who are "falsely" implicated in cases like above.

Reacting to Congress General Secretary Digvijay Singh's remark of April 16 in which he alleged that some of the senior Bharatiya Janata Party and RSS leaders were involved in the Ajmer blast accused Sunil Joshi's murder, Togadia said, "Whenever I hear Digvijay I always feel that I am listening to a Pakistani."

On the issue of Ram temple in Ayodhya, Togadia said, "If need arises we will launch a movement for the construction of the temple in Ayodhya."