Twitter has removed a controversial caricature post tweeted by Gujarat BJP depicting people sentenced to death for their roles in 2008 Ahmedabad bomb blasts for violating micro-blogging site rules. The BJP's tweet showed a caricature of men in skull caps in the noose and long beards with captions that read "Satyamev Jayate" and "no pardon to those spreading terrorism."
On February 19, the state BJP had tweeted the caricature from its verified official handle @BJP4Gujarat. The caricature was based on the judgement of a special court, passed on February 18, which sentenced 38 people to death while 11 others to life imprisonment for their roles in 2008 Ahmedabad serial bomb blasts in which 56 people were killed while over 200 were injured. It was said to be a "historic" judgement in which a record 38 people were awarded capital punishment.
Soon after the BJP tweeted the caricature, the post sparked controversy with netizens reporting to Twitter to take it down. There were many who were defending the post. Twitter is said to have taken down the post for violation of rules.
When contacted, state BJP spokesperson Yagyesh Dave told DH, "There was nothing wrong in the post. The entire media had reported the court order with similar pictures. Our post was deleted since people who support terrorism reported it to Twitter. We will certainly seek action against Twitter." A similar caricature on BJP's Instagram page has generated huge controversy.
The judgement in 2008 bomb blasts was also mentioned in the election rally of Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Uttar Pradesh. "When I was serving Gujarat as its chief minister, Ahmedabad bomb blasts took place....there was a conspiracy of blasts in other cities as well. I can never forget that day when the earth was reddened by the victims' blood... I picked up the blood-soaked soil and took a vow that my government will find these terrorists even from pataal (netherworld) and punish them," Modi said in his election speech.
Meanwhile, Gujarat Congress spokesperson Manish Doshi said, "It is unfortunate that BJP is playing politics over a judicial order and giving it a religious colour. Terrorism has no religion. The judgement has delivered justice to all those who had to suffer due to the terror attack. The judgement has sent the message but BJP is trying to politicise it for their electoral gains."
The special court has stated in its 7015-page judgement that convicts deserved the death as letting them join the society is akin to releasing "man-eater leopard" in public, which will consume innocents. The court said that "It is clearly established that if these accused are given less than life in jail till their last breath, they can repeat the offence and would also aid similar activities. Therefore, I believe that there will be peace in the society if they are in jail till their last breath."
"Second noteworthy aspect is, after the July 2008 incident a total of 66 accused were arrested and 78 were arrested in the later years. During the arrested of the accused initially till the year 2021 no case of serial bomb blasts occurred in any state or city in India. It is a fact and therefore if these accused remained in jail till their last breath, I believe that the peace in the society will not be breached and people can live without fear," the judge has stated in his order.
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