Native Terror Factories An E Digest

Native Terror Factories An E Digest

1


(A compilation of Articles/essays on the acts of Terror by Hindutva Outfits)

Compilation with Introduction

Ram Puniyani

The word Hindutva stands for a politics. It is not Hindu religion as is popularly

misunderstood. Hindutva aims to substitute the secular democracy with Hindu

Rashtra. The concept of Hindu Rashtra is parallel to the concept of Islamic

Nation or similar religion based nationalisms.

(For Private Circulation)

Center for Study of Society and Secularism & All India Secular Forum

602 & 603, New Silver Star, Behind BEST Bus Depot, Santacruz (E), Mumbai: - 400 055.

E-mail: [email protected], www.csss-isla.com

mailto:csss2work@http://www.csss-isla.com/


2

Table of Contents

Page No.

Preface 03

In Lieu of Introduction: Terrorism: Scapegoats and Holy Cows: Ram Puniyani 04

1. Hindutva Terror: Ram Puniyani 13

2. Saffron Terror: Subhash Gatade 19

3. Malegaon, Modassa and Mehrauli Blasts: Subhash Gatade 26

4. Mossad, CIA connection to Mumbai Terror attacks: Yoginder Sikand 29

5. Misdirected Hyderabad Bomb Blast Investigations: Adv. Irfan Engineer 34

6. And Now Hindu Terrorists: Asghar Ali Engineer 36

7. Resurgent Hindutva Terror in Goa: Subhash Gatade 40

8. Jehadi and Sadhvi: Ram Puniyani 48

9. Rise of Hindutva Terrorism: Praveen Swami 50

10 Madhya Pradesh: Refuge of Terrorists: L.S. Hardenia 57

11. Is RSS a Terrorist Organization: Ram Puniyani 60

Post Script

12. From Murder Mystery To Spy Thriller: The Continuing Saga Of The Mumbai 64

Terror Attacks: Raveena Hansa

Book Review

13. Book Review: Who killed Karkare: Real Face of Terrorism in India: 77

M. Zeyaul Haque

Appendix

A. A report on the attack on RSS Headquarters in Nagpur June 2006: 80

Justice Kolse Patil-Dr. Suresh Khairnar

B. A report on bomb blast at the house of prominent RSS activist in Nanded, 89

Maharashtra --- By Dr Suresh Khairnar, Ahmad Kadar and Arvind Ghosh,

Secular Citizen's Forum & PUCL, Nagpur, May 2006


3

Preface

The phenomenon of terrorism has shaken the world like nothing else. Terrorism is quite an old phenomenon. In Modern times the phrase reign of terror, in the aftermath of French revolution, has been the earliest use of the word. The politics of last three decades has changed the whole perception of this phenomenon. While the causes of terrorism lie in social, political and economic reasons, US media and state has succeeded in linking their own politics, which has resulted in the rise of terrorism, couched in the language of religion. Probably this has been one of the major crimes against humanity, giving the cover of religion to the economic lust, abusing the religions identity for political moves, aimed at controlling the oil wealth of the World. This is what distinguishes the current times from the earlier political eras. In India around the same time communal politics, politics in the name of religion, the politics aimed to abolish democratic space, the politics aimed at reversing the process of struggle for achieving caste and gender equality, presented in the language of religion also came up. This vitiated the social atmosphere and religious minorities faced insurmountable problems related to security and consequently to the equity related issues. The sectarian politics and terrorism go together, tormenting the weaker sections of society and delivering body blows to the democratic ethos, to the plural foundations of Indian society. For too long the formulations demonizing minorities, particularly Muslims ruled the roost. With terrorism being linked to Islam and Muslims the scene became much worse. This process got a severe exposure when the deaths of Bajrang Dal, RSS affiliate, activists took place in Nanded in April 2006. The culmination of the process came with Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur, an ex Akhil Bhartiya Vidyarthi Parishad worker, another RSS progeny, came under the scanner of Anti Terrorism Squad of Maharashtra. Then the deeds of related groups started surfacing. By now many an investigating officers could overcome the formula that all terrorists are Muslims, and could investigate these holy cows, posing as super nationalists. With the role of Swami Aseemanand of Dangs, the major face of RSS combine in the area, coming to the fore in Ajmer Dargah blasts, the circle is complete by now. Many a commentators have done painstaking job of going against the manufactured social common sense and have written about these episodes engineered by different Hindutva groups. This compilation has included most of those essays and articles related to the acts of terror of Bajrang Dal and other RSS affiliates or those inspired by this ideology. I thank all the writers for their painstaking work. Truth has been the casualty of communal politics and the propaganda built up around acts of terror. We hope that this compilation will help our friends to unravel the truth of these painful acts, which are a threat to the peace and progress of the society. I wish to thank my friend Irfan Engineer for the meticulous copy editing and valuable suggestions for the book. Ram Puniyani May 2010 All India Secular Forum, Mumbai


4

In Lieu of Introduction

Terrorism: Scapegoats and Holy Cows

Ram Puniyani

I India has been tragically witnessing many acts of terror, more so from last two decades, and particularly, since the communal carnage in Mumbai in 1992-93. After 1993, terrorist strikes spread to other cities as well. There is a long list of these tragic acts. However, some terrorist attacks that have tormented the society and permanently etched in our memory are: serial bombings in Mumbai on 12th March 1993 in which 257 people died and more than 1,100 persons were injured; second incident that has been lingering in public memory is the December 13th, 2001 attack on parliament more than a dozen, including five gunmen, were killed in the attack. The terrorist strike on 14th May 2002 on army camp near Kashmir's winter capital, Jammu killed more than 30, including wives and children of soldiers. On 24th September 2002, militants armed with guns and explosives attacked the Akshardham Hindu temple in the western state of Gujarat. 31 were killed in that incident and more than 80 were injured. In August 2003, two taxis packed with explosives blew up outside a Mumbai tourist attraction and a busy market, killing 52 and wounding more than 100. In October 2005, three bombs exploded in New Delhi markets killing 62 people and injuring hundreds. In March 2006, two bombs exploded at a railway station and in Sankatmochan temple in Varanasi killing 20 people. In July 2006, seven bombs on Mumbai's local trains killed over 200 and injured 700 others.

On 8th September 2006, 30 persons were killed and 100 injured in twin blasts at a mosque in Malegaon. On 19th February 2007, two bombs exploded aboard Samjhauta Express, a train running from New Delhi to Karachi, burning to death at least 66 passengers, most of them Pakistanis. On 18th May 2007, a bomb exploded during Friday prayers at a historic mosque, Mecca Masjid in Hyderabad, killing 14, people, of which five died in the police firing that followed the bombs when the relatives of victims rushed to the spot to find out about their loved ones. On 25th August 2007, three explosions within minutes at an amusement park and a street-side food stall Gokul Chat in Hyderabad killed 40 people. On 13th May 2008, seven blasts struck Jaipur killing at least 63 people and wounding hundreds of people. July 25th 2008: Nine explosions in Bangalore create terror killing two people and injuring twelve. On 26th July 2008, 21 bombs hit Ahmedabad City killing 55 and injuring 100. Meanwhile, 24 live bombs were claimed to be recovered from Surat. On 13th September 2008, five blasts rocked busy markets of New Delhi killing 25 and injuring over 100. And three live bombs were defused in India Gate, Regal Cinema and Central Park. Many of these blasts took place just before some election; some in the aftermath of communal clashes and some took place on the Friday after noon prayers. The pattern was so diverse that one single description of these blasts is out of question. Still there


5

were some common factors in the aftermath of the tragic events. First of all the police machinery most of the times came up with the theory that the Pakistan based terrorist groups or local Muslim groups were involved in the blasts, Harkat Ul-Ansar, Lashkar-e-Tayyaba, Noor Ul Hooda, Harkat-Ul-Jihad, Hijb-ul-Mujahiddin, Indian Mujahuddin, figured most of the times. The claims, that SIMI is involved as a mastermind, or as associate was generally put forward on most occasions. The usual police claims were that the culprits have been caught with the laptops, Identity cards and other information which led police to come to these conclusions. For a large section of media, these were either poor Muslims trapped in the terror net for the longing for Jannat or Technology savvy young man, out to create mayhem in India. While no investigation barring the one of single case Malegaon proceeded to any meaningful direction, most of the times Muslims, mostly youth were arrested tortured and later on after weeks-months released for the lack of any credible evidence. Two of these cases need pondering at slightly greater depth. A blast occurred in Malegaon in the Kabristan, near a mosque on Friday, 8th September 2008, at 1.15 PM, just after the prayers. It was Shab-e- Barat and therefore larger crowd had assembled. In this blast 37 people died and 125 were injured. Most of the people who died were naturally, Muslims. Police blamed SIMI for the blast. One person Noor Ul-Hooda, allegedly associated with SIMI, was accused and arrested for the act of terror. Gradually, other usual suspects were also named Shabbir Batterywala was named as member of dreaded Lashkar-e-Tayyaba, and Raees Ahmad was arrested as co conspirator, allegedly associated with SIMI. While there was a feeling that Hindutva organizations may be involved, the authorities ruled it out on the ground that the type of explosives, RDX, are not available with Bajrang Dal etc.

and that the type of bomb used in Malegaon was too sophisticated for Bajrang Dal type organization. Also, that they do not have such organizational capability. While police pointed out that the pattern of these blasts is similar to the one which occurred in other mosques in Maharashtra, still Bajrang Dal was not suspected. Confessions of the accused were extracted under coercion. The confessions were denied before the magistrates and no headway could be made, as there was no corroboratory evidence. In same Malegaon, another blast took place two years later. The low intensity blast took place in the crowded Bhikku Chowk in Malegaon, at a time when people were breaking their ramzan fast. Initially police thought that it is blast of gas cylinder, but later confirmed that the blast took place due to the device tied to the Hero Honda motorcycle. This investigation was conducted by Hemant Karkare of Maharashtra ATS, who was later killed in the Mumbai 26/11 attack. The investigation led to Sadhvi Prgaya Singh Thakur, Swami Dayanand Pandey, serving army officer Lt Col. Prasad Shrikant Purohit and retired army officer Maj. Upadhyay. They have now been arrested. The second case is that of Mecca Mosque blast in Hyderabad on May 18th 2007, at the time of Namaz in the afternoon. At that time thousands of people were in the mosque. Further, police as usual put the fingers at Harkat-ul-Jihad-al-Islami or HUJI and the Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI) as the main suspects behind the Friday Mecca mosque blast. Nearly 25 Muslim youth were arrested alleging different affiliations, but all of them were released after six months for lack of evidence. In both Malegaon and Hyderabad Mecca Masjid, like many other places, what is evident is that Muslims had been the main victims and later the main suspects, showing the track followed by the officials that all terrorists are Muslims, which has been the their line of thinking in all cases of blasts.


6

II

The perception that All Terrorists are Muslims has been the underlying guiding factor of investigating authorities in India. There are lots of other prejudices against the minorities, and prejudices are basic ground on which communal politics operates. However, the prejudice that all terrorists are Muslims gained ground after the attack on World Trade Centre Twin Towers on 9/11. It was after that that the US media coined the word Islamic Terrorism, which for the first time blamed Islam as the cause of terrorism and demonization of Muslims gained ground at a global level. Demonization of Muslims and Islam was even more aggravated in India as prejudices against minorities had a long history since colonial period. The British divide and rule policy led to consolidation of communal identities and prejudices against the minorities. The communal politics was rooted in the social and economic factors, but due to communal historiography and other factors the expression of class differences started assuming communal form. This later on went on to become a big monster, the myths about the other communities; it was from both the sides, Muslim and Hindus. The elite of the community and the landlord-Kings began the process to save their privileged position in the society, later middle class intellectuals not only joined it but some of them went on to form the ideology of communalism, and religion based nationalism, Hindu Rashtra and Islamic state. In India the majority of Muslims came from the poor shudras, who were victims of the caste system and responded to the humane teachings of Sufi saints and embraced Islam. With partition of the country the elite sections left for Pakistan and the backward and poor Muslims were left behind suffering gross discrimination in all fields of life, and the process of their exclusion from economic arena, jobs and other social opportunities worsened by the day.

With the change in the global scenario, decline of socialist states, and the process of globalization being aggressively pushed, situation became much worse for weaker nation and for the poor sections of society. At this point the sections of society, the affluent middle classes, gripped by their insecurity longed for status quo, wanted to even push back the process of social transformation of caste and gender. They became flag bearers of the divisive politics in the name of religion. This poisoned the social atmosphere; the social communal consensus against the minorities built up. All sorts of prejudices became gained popularity amongst broad sections of society and this was the fertile ground on which the communal violence played out, forming the base of communal politics and leading the emotional ghettoization and later physical ghettoisation of religious communities. In this backdrop, the 9/11 came as a bolt from the blue and worsened the already distorted perception widely prevalent in the society. As such terrorism, which is primarily due to social, economic and political reasons, started being perceived as being due to one particular religion executed through that community.

III

It is in this context that the formulation all Terrorists are Muslims became part of social common sense and the guiding thesis of the investigators and state officials who posed as experts of terrorism. Not only that the impact of this formulation on the popular psyche has been immensely negative. After all what is terrorism? As such it is difficult to define terrorism. A terrorist for one section of may be regarded as a freedom fighter for another section. LTTE a terrorist organization is looked up a fighting for the cause of rights of Tamils by some sections of Tamil. Roughly one can say terrorism is an act which may be done by a state, a group or


7

an individual with a political objective in which innocent people may be targeted. Those acts where there are no deaths but people feel intimidated can also be called as terrorism. Terrorism is different from communal violence. In communal violence a communal group spreads hatred against a community, and common persons in the society are mobilized to attack the minority groups. The Gujarat carnage in 2002, communal violence in Mumbai in 1992-93 and the Orissa violence (2008) fall in this category. Terrorism is conspiratorial act that takes the society by surprises. Communal violence is built up and its perpetrators are easy to locate. In case of Mumbai violence an intense hate campaign against minorities was built up through section of media and by word of mouth and then average people were made to believe that minorities are a threat to them and so they should be attacked. In Mumbai it happened in the wake of Babri demolition and in Gujarat it happened after the Godhra train burning. In the train scorching incident in Godhra, those guilty should have been punished but an atmosphere was created blaming the entire community and poorer sections of the majority community were mobilized to attack them. Currently in Orissa, the make believe perception that Christian missionaries are converting by force and fraud has gained popularity. As such if we see there is not a single case in the police record where the complaint against missionaries for conversion are registered. Christianity is a very old religion in India and today their population is mere 2.30%. This population of Christians has been on decline from the 2.60 of 1971 to todays 2.30% (2001). Wadhva Committee report which went into the killing of Pastor Graham Stains in 1999, found that the Pastor was not involved in the acts of conversion and that the Christian population in his area of work was fairly stable. This perception about missionary work has been used to

instigate the violence against a tiny minority of the country. As such terrorists come from all religions. Let us recall the killer of Mahatma Gandhi, Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi. Similarly yesteryears biggest terrorist organization has been Liberation Tiger of Tamil Elam. The Irish Republican Army constituted mainly by Christians has been indulging in the acts of terror in Ireland for long time. Terrorists are not born. Some youth take to the path of terror due to gross injustice or perception of injustice, done to them or their community. This is associated with a feeling that society-state will not give them justice. This was witnessed in Guwahati, in November 2007. A group of Adivasis had come to city for demanding their rights over land and forest resources. They were not only beaten up, also one girl accompanying them was molested. A week later an Adivasi National Liberation front was formed which planted bombs in Guwahati Rajdhani express and in this 7 people were killed. We remember that after the Mumbai violence a group of frustrated-dejected people took help of underworld to plant the bombs in Mumbai train Afghanistan, US in order to fight back the Russian army and to control the oil wells, set up Madrassas in Pakistan to indoctrinate the Muslim youth. The indoctrination module was made in Washington. According to this the youth were made to believe that Russians/every Non Muslim is a kafir, killing kafirs is Jihad and sacrifice for Jihad will take you to Jannat (heaven) where 72 virgins will be welcoming you. After defeating the Russian armies the Al Qaeda turned against other South Asian countries and also against US itself. India is a victim of the offshoots of this particular as they now firmly believe what was taught to them in the Madrasssas, specially set up to indoctrinate them, in the territory of Pakistan by the US. The other major cause of terrorism is ethno-national, like Sri Lanka-Jaffna where LTTE came up, in Kashmir, where the issue of


8

autonomy of Kashmir turned to become ethno national one, the North East where the integration of NE into Indian stream gave the hiccups of terrorism. Similarly Irish Republican Army also came up to due ethnic aspirations. Later, we saw the involvement of some Hindutva elements, Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur and others in the acts of terror related to the blasts in front of the mosques, Malegaon, Ajmer Dargah etc. This again is due to the indoctrination of the mind by ideologies which are totally anti democratic and look at politics in the colours of religion. Here the followers are indoctrinated to believe that existence of their community is under threat from another community. One knows that the threat is not due to religious community, but since this politics is based on communal principles they attribute all the causes to religion and so the misconception are deliberately produced resulting in violence. The type of terrorism which we witnessed in Mumbai (Nov 2008) is the leftover of the Al Qaeda type groups, the indoctrinated ones. Lets remember that once a person is indoctrinated for the political goals, the reversal of such process is practically impossible. Today the country is the victim of this insane process, which has been the result various global and local political and economic processes.

IV For the various Indian investigating authorities, every bomb blast is linked to foreign origin, viz. Pakistan and Bangladesh, e.g. Harkat ul Jihad, Lashkar e Tayyba, Mujahidin etc. While some places these organizations may have been involved, but beyond a point it became a knee jerk understanding after the terror act. And as it accomplice or as the executer in its own right SIMI kept figuring most of the times.

Many a youth were arrested under this label as the old member of SIMI, after SIMI was banned in 2001. It became a matter of routine after every blast, including in Malegaon, Mecca Masjid in Hyderabad, Jaipur to blame SIMI, HUJI and LeT. This usual circle of suspected organization was breached with the impeccable proof of Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakurs motor cycle being found in Malegaon. The trace of motorcycle link led to Swami Dayanand Pandey, Lt Col Shrikant Purohit and many others associated with Hindu right wing organizations, offshoots of or inspired by RSS ideology. We have been witness to the fact that after most of the blasts so far, Muslim youth were arrested on the charge of being involved in the blasts. They were harassed for months and then released for the lack of evidence. This was more or less a routine pattern and it frightened the whole Muslim community. Many a Muslim youths careers were ruined due to these reckless and baseless arrests. Many minority families underwent severe problems, were ostracized from their own community once they were dragged into the net on the charges which were guided more by the prevalent biases or stereotypes than any substance. SIMI came to be regarded as the core organization responsible for fomenting trouble through youth. Despite the ban on SIMI in 2001, the Muslim youth kept on being labeled as SIMI activists and were put behind the bar. Its not to say that SIMI is democratic or secular. We know that SIMI, which began as a student front of Jamat-e-Islami Hind gradually, split with them and became radical in the decade of 1990s in particular. Yoginder Sikand, an Islamic scholar of repute gives a very crisp history of this organization (/www.countercurrents.org/comm-sikand150706.htm). SIMI was founded on the ideology propounded by Maulana Maududi, according to whom all non Muslims are kafirs and manmade systems like democracy are false and Shariah is the only way. It kept the


9

goal of spreading Islamic consciousness amongst Muslim students and peaceful missionary work amongst non-Muslims. Some events in the decade of 1990 were to shape its ideology in a radical and militant direction. These events were Soviet Russias invasion of Afghanistan and Islamization of Pakistan in particular. SIMI after coming out from the control of its parent organization started expounding a different language. The demolition of Babri Mosque and the post demolition violence gave it a fillip in the negative direction. It propounded that Democracy had failed to protect Muslims so there was need for someone like Mohammed Gazni, the destroyer of Somanth. This was also the theme of the poster released by them in the aftermath of Babri demolition. It was alleged that SIMI had links with Sikh and Kashmiri militants. It was further alleged that they had links with Osama bin Laden and ISI of Pakistan. However, SIMI claimed that it wanted to work through peaceful methods. Due to worsening communal conflicts, SIMI represented that the Muslim community was a besieged community. Under these circumstances SIMI was banned in 2001. The ban on SIMI was challenged, before the Tribunal appointed under the UAPA to review the ban. Ajit Sahi of Tehelka in his painstaking investigation, followed the tribunals sitting all through (Tehelka, SIMI Fictions, 12th August 2008), the Tribunal did not find any evidence to substantiate the charges against SIMI and justify its ban. The ban, in the opinion of the Tribunal could not be upheld. Ajit Sahi wrote, his (Ajit Sahis) investigation is no dry story rising from lifeless court documents. It has been an emotional rollercoaster to sit across young boys barely into manhood, their foreheads creased by sleepless nights worried stiff over the jailing of a father, a brother, wondering endlessly, Will this end? Is this for real? What do I do now? Where do I go now? Will I survive this? He further wrote, as I interviewed countless Muslims, so

weathered, I couldnt but ask myself, what if this was me? What if it was my brother, my father in jail? Ajit Sahi presented his travails to find out about SIMI. With the World scenario tilting against the Islam and Muslims, courtesy the radical Islamists trained in the Madrassas set up in Pakistan with US aid, the popular psyche perceived an average Muslim as a terrorist and police machinery operated on this understanding. Even when scores of lives were shattered and the community came under the intimidation of highest order, the Government did not put any corrective on the pattern of investigation with which police was pursuing its work. The names of HUJI and SIMI have been bandied about by the police as the perpetrators of the blasts without any evidence. A number of former members of SIMI have been arrested and detained without any basis or evidence against them. The media has also been uncritically repeating and amplifying the baseless allegations and innuendoes of the police mentioning persons and organizations belonging to the Muslim community, thus resulting in ethnic profiling and feeding into the Islamophobia being sought to be created and reinforced in the minds of the Hindu community by the Hindutva organizations. In Jaipur this has resulted in the vilification of the entire Bengali Muslim community that has been victimized by the Hindutva organizations with the police supporting them. Thousands of them have been picked up after the blasts and forcibly transported to New Jalpaiguri and then Bangladesh without following due process of law and without giving them an opportunity to prove their Indian Citizenship. The process almost amounted to ethnic cleansing of Jaipur.

V


10

If the investigating agencies pursue only one line of investigation and if that happens to be the wrong line, there could be two implications of that - innocents are tortured and the real culprits get away, and merrily keep doing their job. This may not be true for all the cases of terrorism, but it seems to be true for most of the cases of blasts near mosques, and probably in Samjhauta express as well. While some are made scapegoats during investigations some organizations are elevated to the status of Holy cows, which cannot be investigated despite their acts of terror. This came to light with the Nanded bomb blast in the house of a RSS worker, where Bajrang Dal workers were making bombs. On 6th April 2006 two Bajrang Dal workers died when a bomb exploded during its manufacture. The place where they died belonged to the RSS worker and saffron flag was hoisted atop the house. There was also a board of Bajrang Dal Nanded Branch on the wall of the house. Police recovered the materials for making IED devices, a dairy and fake beard, moustache and Pajama Kurta. The Anti Terrorist Squad established that the place was used for making bombs The house search revealed the powerful bomb, I.E.D. with timer and remote control, after which the Inspector General of Police conceded that it was a bomb blast and that those involved in the blast were members of Bajrang Dal. Local papers reported that a diary had the details of bomb making techniques and other relevant information. On 11th April, Special IG Police Mr. Surya Prakash Gupta declared that it was not an isolated event; rather a bomb-manufacturing center (Bomb Nirmiti Kendra) was functional at the house of Rajkondwar. He said this center was working since many days. He said one of the injured, Rahul Pande had categorically confessed to have made many such bombs earlier. Incidents of bomb blasts were witnessed in many places around that time, Parabhani,

Jalna and Aurangabad in Maharashtra. Most of these were near the mosques. The Nanded investigation 'leads' were not pursued. The attitude of police in this investigation has been totally lax. Social activists made the complaint about this to Human Rights Commission. The SP failed to turn up for hearing! There were several similarities in the details of the bomb attacks which took place in or near mosques in Marathwada areas. All blasts took place between 1:45 and 2:00 in the afternoon, just after Friday prayers, at the most prominent mosque in town. The bomb that went off in Nanded in 2006 on 6 April, a Thursday, was apparently meant to be set off at an Aurangabad Mosque the following day. In the same city, i.e. in Nanded, on February 10, 2007, 28-year-old Pandurang Bhagwan Amilkanthwar died on the spot. "Amol Biscuits", a bakery shop, was run by the deceased, at Shastrinagar, Nanded. Shop was closed from outside. He was a Shiv Sena shakha pramukh. In Thane on 4th June 2008, two Hindu Jagran Samiti workers were arrested for planting the bombs in the basement of Gadkari Rangayatan, due to which 7 people got injured. The same group was involved in the blasts in Vashi and Panvel also. In Goa a bomb kept in a scooter went off on the eve of Diwali (17th Oct 2009) in Margao. It killed Malgonda Patil and seriously injured Yogesh Naik. Another bomb was detected in Sancoale in a truck carrying 40 youth for Narkasur competition. Both the activists belonged to Sanatan Sanstha. The second aim of this blast was to create communal tension in Margao, which has a history of communal violence. This group takes inspiration from Savarkar (Hindu Mahasabha) and Hedgewar (RSS) and indoctrinates its members into hating Christians and Muslims. While Investigating the Malegaon bomb blasts, Hemant Karkare found that the Hero Honda motor cycle that was used for the


11

purpose belonged to Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur, whose connections extended to different Hindutva organizations. Swami Dayanand Pandey, Lt Col Prasad Shrikant Purohit, Retd Major Upadhayay and many others were part of a gang who were behind Malegaon and probably other such acts of terror. Only when the irrefutable evidence of motor cycle was found, the investigation could make some headway, which till that time was not giving any importance to this angle of the investigation despite so many leads in this direction. On 24th August 2008 two Bajrang Dal activists died in Kanpur, while making bombs. The Kanpur zone IGP S.N. Singh stated that their investigations have revealed that this group was planning massive explosions all over the state. Indian Express edition dated 23 Oct 2008 reports that those involved in the bomb blast in Malegaon and Modasa (Sept 2008) had links with Akhil Bhartiya Vidyarthi Parishad. Similarly in Tenkasi, Tamil Nadu pipe bomb attack on RSS office (Jan.2008) was projected to have been done by Jehadi Muslims. Investigations later revealed Hindu names. There was an alleged Fidayin attack on the RSS office in Nagpur on June 1, 2006. Three alleged fidayins were killed in the police encounter, as per the police version. Citizens Inquiry Report, headed by Justice Kolse Patil doubted the police version seriously. No clarifications came from the authorities. By now a pattern is emerging where not only that Bajrang Dal activists are carrying guns and swords and publicly display their arms but are also active in undertaking the acts of terror. It is likely that in many cases their role has remained uninvestigated. There is a deliberate cover up of these incidents. Some of these leads are not being pursued while the police are hyper active in cases where suspected Muslim youth seem to be involved, and that too just on the basis of their

confessions. This is a biased attitude of the authorities involved.

VI A tribunal was organized by Anhad and other human rights organizations in Hyderabad in 2007 to assess the extent of innocent Muslim youth being caught for the acts of terror. The Tribunal had a very challenging task of verifying the truth behind all the allegations made against the state actors. What was surprising was the gross violation of laws indulged in by the police. The Muslim Youth falsely charged with offences related to terror attacks were kept in custody and denied all their legal and constitutional rights. Their relatives were not informed; their date of arrest was shown to be much later than their actual arrest. The torture which they were subjected to is beyond description. Their entire families were completely shattered. The careers of promising young boys were ruined due to arrests on baseless grounds. Is all this reflective of the poor norms, poor professional training of the officers? Is it rank inefficiency couched in this cruelty or the tormentors are acting like this due to the prevalent biases which have gone deep into the whole society including these officers? The pattern observed in most of the cases was that there were illegal detentions. Following, torture if the person was to be released, police routinely obtained their signature on a blank paper and also threatened with dire consequences if the person went to human rights activists or lawyers. At times they are made to shout Jai Shri Ram just to humiliate them. Sometimes even mere possession of Urdu literature was taken as a proof of terrorist links. Third degree methods were used very widely on the accused and even the relatives were not spared. Severe torture on the relatives of the arrested was used to extract false confessions. The accused and their relatives were taken to the police station or other


12

places of detention on false pretexts and the basic needs of water and food were not taken care of. Bribes were extracted most of the times to permit the families to visit their loved one in custody. What will happen to the future of those who were arrested and released later? The students will lose their career-track, at times colleges dont take them back until court ruling is brought to that effect. The families of accused get ostracized from the community out of fear. Others stop relating to them. Their business gets a severe setback Banks refuse to give them loans etc. Some of those arrested were forced to become approvers with promise of their release. The powers vested with the police seem to be present only through there misuse, most of the times. A two way impression operates in the society. Firstly, amongst the larger sections of society, that the Muslim terrorists are a huge threat to the nation. Secondly, among Muslims the feeling is that state is totally prejudiced and deliberate injustice is being done to them because of their religion. Two set of mechanisms of investigation norms are

coming to be rooted. One, Muslim youth are picked up after every blast and are subjected to torture till courts pronounce them non-guilty. And two, to treat the blasts accused who are Hindus, with kid gloves.

VII This seems to be a dark phase of our society. In this era religion has been used as the cover for the political goals of the imperial power, and the dominant social sections. In the earlier era, Cold war, Communism was projected by propaganda mills, as the major threat to democracy and freedom. Today, communism has been substituted by Islam and Muslims. The communalization of society at large and that of state apparatus leads to the double standards in matters of justice and control of law and order. The impact of this policy of state and stigmatization by society is distorting the psyche of large sections of Muslim minority. Perverse fears generated by political goals, propagated at social level are a big obstacle to amity in society and tramples upon the notions of justice and peace.

****


13

1. Hindutva Terrorism

Ram Puniyani

A. Terminological Confusions: Hindu or Hindutva

Protests were organized and threats to stall

the proceedings of Parliament session had

been dished out to oppose the Home Minister

Sushil Kukar Shindes statement about the

Hindu terrorism, its links with BJP and RSS.

(23 Jan 2013,

http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/s

hinde-blasts-bjp-rss-for-inciting-hindu-

terror/article4325767.ece). There are two

major components of this statement. One is

the use of the prefix Hindu for terrorism,

and two about RSS-BJP links with terror

training camps. What Shinde called Hindu

terrorism has also been called Saffron

terrorism or Hindutva terrorism? This prefix

is to point out to acts of terror indulged in

by the likes of Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur,

Swami Aseemanand, Col. Prasad Shrikant

Purohit, Kalsangara, Sunil Joshi and many

like them who were either actively

associated with the ideology of Hindutva, or

even were organizationally associated with

RSS. Others were at that time or previously

linked with some progeny of RSS like ABVP,

Bajrang Dal etc. Many of them were part of

organizations like Sanatan Sanstha, Abhinav

Bharat, who again aim at the goal of Hindu

Nation or are ideologically inspired by the

agenda of RSS.

The home ministers remarks were based on

investigations done Anti Terror Squads of

different states and by National Investigation

Agency. Earlier the announcement was made

by the former Union home minister P.

Chidambaram, in July 2010, to Parliament

that the National Investigation Agency (NIA)

will probe the terrorist attacks on the

Samjhauta Express and examine the

conspiracy behind the attack, including the

links of the accused in terrorist attacks at

Malegaon (September 8, 2006), Mecca Masjid

in Hyderabad (May 18, 2007) and at the

Ajmer dargah (October 11, 2007). He had

used the word Saffron terror.

Terror Phenomenon

Various such acts of terror in which these

people have been involved have been coming

to light from last ten years or so. In 2003, in

Parbhani, Jalna and Jalgaon districts of

Maharashtra; in 2005, in Mau district of Uttar

Pradesh; in 2006, in Nanded; in January

2008, at the RSS office in Tenkasi,

Tirunelveli; in August 2008, in Kanpur etc.

Few of the details of some of these acts are

very revealing

1. On 6th April (2006) in the middle

of the night, a powerful bomb

exploded in remote place in

Maharashtra, Nanded. The house

where it exploded belongs to the RSS

sympathizer with Bajarang Dal flag

http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/shinde-blasts-bjp-rss-for-inciting-hindu-terror/article4325767.ecehttp://www.thehindu.com/news/national/shinde-blasts-bjp-rss-for-inciting-hindu-terror/article4325767.ecehttp://www.thehindu.com/news/national/shinde-blasts-bjp-rss-for-inciting-hindu-terror/article4325767.ece


14

flying a top the house. The impact of

the blast could be felt in the whole

town, in the perimeter of two

kilometers, some people felt as if it is

an earth quake. The house where the

blast took place, all the furniture was

blown apart and two members of

Bajarang Dal were killed on the spot

and three other were seriously

injured. It was a single explosion, not

multiple one as happens with

crackers.

The place where they died belonged

to the RSS worker and saffron flag was

hoisted atop the hose. There was also

a board of Bajrang Dal Nanded Branch

on the wall of the house. Fake beards

and kurta pajam were also found

there. The case was not well

investigated. A Citizens Inquiry

committee investigated the blast. (Dr.

Suresh Khairnar, Ahmad Kadar and

Arvind Ghosh, in Malegaon to Ajmer,

Trail of Terror (editor Ram Puniyani,

All India Secular Forum, 2010, page

121). The report pointed out that

there exist strong indications that

deep communal conspiracies were

being hatched by Hindutvavadi firces

in the city of Nanded.

2. In Thane on 4th June 2008, two

Hindu Jagran Samiti workers were

arrested for planting the bombs in the

basement of Gadkari Rangayatan, due

to which 7 people got injured. The

same group was involved in the blasts

in Vashi, Panvel also. The bombs

which exploded in Gadkari Rangayatan

on 4th June 2008, injured seven

people. In one of the few cases of

success in investigating such cases in

Maharashtra or anywhere for that

matter, the Anti Terrorist Squad (ATS)

of Police, succeeded in nabbing the

culprits. As it turned out, this

investigation did lead to the real

culprits, who happened to be part of

Hindu Janjagaran Samiti (HJS), an

outfit of Sanatana Ashram in Panvel.

These culprits were also involved in

other blasts, in Vashi, Panvel and

Ratnagiri. In Thane the blasts were

done to protest against the play Amhi

Pachpute, a satirical play on

Mahabharata. The allegation was that

it insults Hindu Gods. The earlier blast

in Panvel was in a theater where the

film Jodha Akbar was being screened.

In this film the Hindu princess is

married to Akbar, a Muslim king, and

that is regarded by these outfits as

insult to Hindu

religion.(http://articles.timesofindia.i

ndiatimes.com/2010-

12 21/mumbai/28255225_1_sanatan-

sanstha-amhi-pachpute-hemant-

chalke)

3. In Goa a bomb kept in a scooter

went off on the eve of Diwali (15th

Oct 2009) in Margao. It killed

Malgonda Patil and seriously injured

Yogesh Naik. Another bomb was

detected in Sancoale in a truck

carrying 40 youth for Narkasur

http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2010-12http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2010-12http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2010-12


15

competition. Both the activists

belonged to Sanatan Sanstha. The

second aim of this blast was to create

communal tension in Margao, which

has a history of communal violence.

This group takes inspiration from

Savarkar (Hindu Mahasabha) and

Hedgewar (RSS) and indoctrinates its

members into hating Christians and

Muslims. The Anti Terrorist Squad

(ATS) of Police, succeeded in nabbing

the culprits, against whom cases are

going on still. It was a clear case of

involvement of Hindu Right wing

organizations involved in a case of

terrorism. The culprits belonged to

Hindu Janjagaran Samiti (HJS), an

outfit of Sanatana Sanstha, whose one

of the ashrams is based in Panvel near

Mumbai. These culprits were also

involved in other blasts, in Vashi,

Panvel and Ratnagiri.

blast went off in a scooter (bearing

no GA 05 A 7800) behind the grace

Church at around 9.45 PMThe duo

riding the scooter were, in fact

following the effigy of a Narkasur,

which was coming down the grace

Church road from Gayling. (Subhash

Gatade, Godses Children, Pharos

Media, Delhi 2011, page 204)

4. On 24th August 2008 two Bajrang Dal

activists died in Kanpur, while making

bombs. The Kanpur zone IGP S.N. Singh

stated that their investigations have

revealed that this group was planning

massive explosions all over the state.

(Twelve suspects, under the scanner in

connection with the Kanpur blast, had

links with the two Bajrang Dal Activists

who died in the blast, Bhupinder Singh

Chopra and Rajiv Mishra (Subhash

Gatade, page 178). Gatade also points

out that police had tried to unearth the

interconnections between Kanpur and

Kannur blasts in Kerala.

5. Indian Express, 23 Oct 2008 reports

that those involved in the bomb blast in

Malegaon and Modasa (Sept 2008) had

links with Akhil Bhartiya Vidyarthi

Parishad. Similarly in Tenkasi, Tamil

Nadu pipe bomb attack on RSS office

(Jan.2008) was projected to have been

done by Jehadi Muslims.

The common pattern of these acts of terror

has been twofold. One, that in few of such

cases the activists related to Bajrang Dal or

fellow travelers were killed while making the

bombs. Second these acts of terror were

targeted to kill the Muslims, so these acts

were organized at times when the Muslims

congregations take place, at the time of

namaz or festivals like Shab-e-Barat in

Malegaon, or in Ajmer Sharif where they

come in large numbers or Samjhauta express

where the major number of travelers is

Muslims.

While in the initial phase police authorities

working under the prejudice that all

terrorists are Muslims misdirected their

probe, the probe came on the proper track


16

after the Malegaon blasts when the motor

cycle of Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur, the

former activist of Akhil Bhartiya Vidyarthi

Parishad, a wing of RSS, came under the

scanner and her links with many of those

who have been named above and are

currently in jail, came to the surface. These

facts came to light due to the initiative and

immaculate investigation done by the then

chief of Maharashtra ATS, Hemant Karkare.

Karkare pursued the investigation

professionally putting together the threads

due to which today most of them are in jails.

While pursuing these investigations Karkare

came under immense pressure from the

politicians belonging to BJP and its close

cousin, Shiv Sena. During this time Narendra

Modi said that Hemant Karkare is an anti

National, (Deshdrohi) and Bal Thackeray in

his Saamana wrote that we spit on the face

of Karkare. Later Karkare got killed in the

Mumbai terror attack of 26/11, 2006.

The people involved in some way were

associated to the affiliates of RSS or RSS

itself. Mr. Singh, Home secretary has given

some of the names from RSS stable who have

been allegedly involved in acts of terror

1. Sunil Joshi (dead), he was an activist of

RSS in dewas and Mhow from 1990s to 2003.

2. Sandeep Dange (absconding), He was RSS

pracharak in Mhow, Indore, Uttarkashi and

Sajhapur from 1990s to 2006.

3. Lokesh Sharma (arrested) He was RSS

nagar karyavahak in Deogarh.

4. Swami Assemanand (arrested), He was

associated with RSS wing Vanavashi Kalyan

Parishad in Dang, Gujarat in 1990s to 2007.

5. Rajender alias Samunder (arrested), He

was RSS Varg Vistarak.

6. Mukesh Vasani (arrested), He was an

activist of RSS in Godhra.

7. Devender Gupta (arrested), was a RSS

pracharak in Mhow and Indore.

8. Chandrasekhar Leve (arrested), was a

RSS pracharak in Shajhanpur in 2007.

9. Kamal Chouhan (arrested), was a RSS

activist.

10. Ramji Kalsangra (absconding), was a

RSS associate.

http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/governm

ent-releases-names-of-hindutva-terrorists-

nia/1/247201.html

This is in addition to Sadhvi Pragya Singh

Thakur, Swami Dayanand Pandey, Lt Col

Prasad Shrikant Purohit, Retired Major

Upadhyay, who have been close to them.

While some beans were spilled by many of

these accused the whole picture was pieced

together by Swami Aseemanand, when he

decided to confess in front of the

magistrate. In his confession Swami gave the

details of the whole set up raised under his

coordination and involving many RSS workers

and their associates. The major reason for

this whole planning as per him was to

counter the Islamic terrorism as witnessed in

Sankat Mochan temple etc. and second goal

of theirs was to pave the path of Hindu

nation.

http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/government-releases-names-of-hindutva-terrorists-nia/1/247201.htmlhttp://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/government-releases-names-of-hindutva-terrorists-nia/1/247201.htmlhttp://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/government-releases-names-of-hindutva-terrorists-nia/1/247201.html


17

The later investigation of ATS and now NIA

has unearthed the linkages due to which

these activists are cooling their heels in

jails. Meanwhile in the wake of most of

these terror blasts many a Muslim youth

were arrested, some of whom were later

released for the lack of any credible

evidence. So this whole series of terrorists

are Hindus. Does this then justify to label

this type of terrorism as Hindu terrorism? By

no means! Shinde is wrong to label this

terrorism as Hindu terrorism.

Is the term saffron terrorism correct? No

way. This term was used by many including

the then Home minister P. Chidambaram in

the wake of the investigations done by

Hemant Karkar in the case of Malegaon

blasts. While one does not approve the term

Hindu terrorism or saffron terrorism at all,

one will like to see the background in which

this term came to be used. The RSS routinely

adopts resolutions seeking to curb Islamic

terrorism with an iron hand. The term

Islamic terrorism was first coined by

American media in the light of 9/11 act of

terror. This was the first major attempt to

label an act of terror with religion. This

became the most popular word and all and

sundry resorted to this word time and over

again. This was a deliberate mischief by US

to target the Muslims and thereby get

legitimacy to launch attacks in the West Asia

to control over the oil resources. In India

also large section of media picked it up. RSS

and its progeny in particular highlighted the

religious nature of this terrorism, and the

word Jehadi terrorism was the common one

to be used. In a way associating terrorism

with religion became a dominant norm and it

became part of popular perception.

In this backdrop when the acts of terror

done by many Hindus came to light, it

somehow came to be labeled with prefix

Hindu or Saffron. Term Islamic terrorism and

Jehadi terrorism is as much wrong as the

term Hindu or saffron terror. The right word

for first one may be Al Qaeda type of

terrorism and for the second, Hindutva

terrorism. Here again using Hindutva

terrorism is fraught with some

misunderstanding. As such Hindutva is a

politics aiming at creation of a Hindu nation

but due to its containing the word Hindu in

it, it is also taken to be a religion in popular

understanding. So the dilemma for Shinde!

How to label this group of terror deeds?

Probably one will like to make it clear that it

is Hindutva terrorism, it has nothing to do

with Hindu religion and the difference

between the terms Hindu (a religion) and

Hindutva (a politics) needs to be made clear

in popular parlance.

So its hypocritical to make the intense noise

while the word Hindu-saffron terrorism is

used. Same set of people are using the word

Islamic terrorism, Jehadi terrorism and

propagating that all terrorists are Muslims.

One has to know that the phenomenon of

terror has been promoted in the Madrassas

specially set up by America in Pakistan to

indoctrinate the Muslim youth and bring up

Al Qaeda type formations. So why demonize

Islam, Muslims and use the term Jehadi


18

terrorism? Both such abuses of religion run

parallel to each other.

What about the statement that training

camps run by RSS and BJP? In all fairness one

conceded that the training camps run by RSS

have gone to give the training in rifles but

the training centres of bomb making and use

are not directly conducted by RSS-BJP.

Surely these activities are done by those

associated with RSS-BJP. One cant take

lightly the picture making rounds on social

media, which shows Rajnath Singh and

Shivrajsingh Chowhan with Sadhvi Pragya

Thakur. One also cant dismiss the fact that

Lal Krishna Advani and Sushma Swaraj had

gone to see the prime minister to plead the

case of Pragya Singh Thakur in particular.

One cant ignore that those running these

training camps had or were associated with

RSS in some way, actively at that time or in

the past.

So all this protests and threats of BJP,

threats to disrupt the session of Parliament

are their usual political tactics and do not

have any meaning, as their indirect or direct

association with the terrorists is so much

obvious. What Shinde is stating is factual but

terminology is confused, and thats not due

to his own fault. We as a society have not

been able to come to coin correct

terminologies for different acts of terror

anyway, so why get away with using the

word Jehadi terrorism and haul Mr. Shinde to

the coals for such a use of the term?

****


19

2. Saffron Terror

Subhash Gatade

01 October, 2007

Himal Mag

Nanded, in Maharashtra, is a town with a

significant population of different faiths

Hindu, Muslim, Sikh and Buddhist. Nanded

could well have become a new metaphor for

secularism as practised in the Subcontinent,

but this was not to be. Instead, Nanded has

come to represent the emergent danger of a

violent new brand of Hindu militancy, with

due support from a section of the state

machinery. A place that was once witness to

the final days of Guru Gobind Singh,

Sikhisms Tenth Guru, has today

metamorphosed into an epicentre of violent

Hindutva. Indeed, Nanded represents the

build-up of the violent fundamentalist

Hinduism of the past half-century. The town

has been witness to a new spate of acts that

can be inarguably dubbed terrorism.

The inner workings of this new form of

Hindutva were on show recently in two,

evidently accidental, explosions in Nanded

within a span of nine months, in April 2006

and February 2007. These blasts, which

killed four people, took place at the houses

of activists from the Rashtriya Swayamsevak

Sangh (RSS), Bajrang Dal and Shiv Sena. The

arrival of Nanded on Indias terror map was

followed by media investigations into similar

previous incidents, which also showed the

involvement of Hindu youth in terrorist

actions.

The new element here is the increasing

similarity between Hindu militancy and

terrorism of other hues. While various

enquiry commissions have looked into riots

in post-Independence India and corroborated

the proactive role played by the RSS in

instigating riots, the irony of the situation is

that the organisation is still able to maintain

its missionary image. Part of this is

because the group has long maintained a

strict division of labour within its ranks,

delegating much of the dirty work to fringe

workers. The Nanded blasts proved to be an

exception to this pattern, as the RSS links

were obvious. This is why, in the immediate

aftermath of the explosions, the Sangh

Parivar leadership went to great lengths to

suppress the news. Indeed, activist friends of

this writer in Maharashtra were themselves

unaware that any such incident had taken

place.

One set of blasts took place in a house

belonging to Laxman Rajkondwar, an old RSS

activist, and killed two youths belonging to

the Bajrang Dal and RSS, while injuring three

others. The explosives that were being made

were to be used during the entry into


20

Maharashtra of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)

leader L K Advanis Bharat Suraksha Yatra,

the idea being to warn of the grave security

situation existing in the country. Later

investigations found that the plan had been

to instigate communal riots in Nanded that

could have spread to adjoining areas. Such a

situation, it was hoped, would boost the

sagging morale of both the BJP and its

ageing stalwart, Advani (see accompanying

story, Befuddled, jingoistic party).

The aim was clearly to instigate a communal

conflict. A police raid on one of the

deceaseds houses found maps of nearby

mosques, as well as clothes and caps usually

worn by Muslims in the area, which the

activists were going to wear to sneak into

and attack the mosques and gurudwaras. The

only thing still needed was explosives. The

making of bombs in a house owned by an old

RSS activist one who supposedly also dealt

in firecrackers, at that seemed like the

perfect plan.

Of course, the story neither begins nor ends

in Nanded. Since 2003, at least five, and

perhaps six, Hindutva-related explosions

have taken place in central Maharashtra

alone, in Parbhani, Purna, Jalna and

Nanded. Malegaon also witnessed a bomb

blast last year, killing 40 people, with strong

indications of a Hindutva hand behind it.

(The final picture will emerge after an

ongoing investigation by the Central Bureau

of Investigation finishes.) Beyond the

geographical similarities, the details of the

attacks were uncanny: each took place

between 1:45 and 2:00 in the afternoon, just

after Friday prayers, at the most prominent

mosque in town. (The bomb that went off in

Nanded in 2006 exploded on 6 April, a

Thursday, but was apparently meant to be

set off at an Aurangabad masjid the

following day.)

At the same time, this cannot be dubbed a

Maharashtra-centric phenomenon. Madhya

Pradeshs former chief minister, Digvijay

Singh, has publicly admitted to the

involvement of various groups and

individuals affiliated with the RSS in similar

acts in his state. As for the rest of the

country, no systematic study of saffron

terror has yet been undertaken. One

reason for this could be the thin line that

separates the different anushangik

(affiliated) organisations of the RSS, thereby

making it possible to move from the legal

to the illegal without great effort. Indeed,

there is every possibility that funds collected

from the Hindu diaspora for philanthropic

work might also have been channelled to

further terrorist activities.

Nonetheless, culturally integrated practices

are being utilised to arm certain sections of

the Hindu community. Back in 2001,

Rajasthans then-Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot

revealed that up to four million trishuls six

to eight inches long and sharp enough to kill

had been distributed by the Bajrang Dal to

Hindu households across the country.

Meanwhile, in 2002, a group in Orissa, under

the district Shiv Sena unit, formed the first-

ever Hindu suicide squad, aimed at

countering Muslim extremism in Jammu &

Kashmir and elsewhere. More than 100


21

youths, including some women, are said to

have joined the group.

Hindutva collusion

Nandeds population is made up of around

500,000 Hindus, 200,000 Muslims and

100,000 Sikhs. The town has seen a

significant amount of communal tension in

the past, which spiked following the

demolition of the Babri Masjid in December

1992. In more recent years, this tension

seems to have also spilled over into

surrounding towns such as Parbhani, where,

in November 2003, motorcycle-borne

attackers hurled bombs into the midst of a

large congregation of Muslims assembled for

Friday papers. Although the identities of the

Parbhani bomb-throwers were never traced,

forensic tests following the Nanded blasts

revealed that the accused were part of the

same group of Hindu militants that had

executed the attack in Parbhani.

Following the April 2006 blasts in Nanded, an

odd silence ensued in the local and

national media, as well as in the local and

national governments. There was also a

disturbing lack of sincerity on the part of the

investigating agencies in pursuing the case,

despite appearing to have gathered

significant evidence of the involvement of

district and state leaders of the RSS and

Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP). As

investigations by the Peoples Union for Civil

Liberties (PUCL) and other rights

organisations have made clear, the district

administration even saw to it that news of

the blasts did not receive wide coverage.

After the initial excitement, district officials

also allegedly pressured the local media not

to follow the case any further.

The lackadaisical reaction also spread

through those involved in local and national

investigations. Local police made

contradictory statements, and failed to

make arrests in the initial stages. Despite

the sensitive nature of the Nanded case, the

Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI)

expressed its inability to conduct the

subsequent investigation. In response to a

case filed by some social organisations

against the tardiness of the investigations,

the CBI filed a suo moto affidavit explaining

that it was overburdened and had limited

hands to deal with such cases. The

cumulative effect of the half-hearted or

wholly obstructionist initiatives, at both

the state and central level, was to show the

kid-glove treatment being meted out to

Indias new breed of Hindutva militants.

Secular activists questioned whether the

reaction would have been similar had the

explosions taken place in a minority-

dominated area, and the involvement of

some fanatic Islamic group been detected.

The cavalier manner in which the probes of

the Nanded blasts were undertaken may

have prepared the ground for a stepping-up

of similar activities in the area. On 10

February 2007, at little after midnight,

biscuit boxes were being hauled by 28 years

old Pandurang Ameelkanthwar in another

area in Nanded. The biscuit boxes exploded,

killing him instantly. His cousin, Dnaneshwar

Manikwar, sustained massive burns and died


22

six days later. Ameelkanthwar had been a

former shakha pramukh (branch head) of the

Shiv Sena, and was also associated with the

Bajrang Dal. He hailed from an area in

Nanded called Rangargalli, a known hotbed

of rightwing Hindu outfits.

A mere fire-related accident was how state

officials subsequently reported the incident.

But preliminary findings by a Fact Finding

committee of PUCL, Nagpur led by Suresh

Khairnar, found that Ameelkanthwar and

Manikwar died due to handling of planted

explosives. Neighbours near the explosion

also told the team that there had been a

third person present at the time, who was

also injured but was unaccounted for in the

subsequent reports.

As per the committee report the

eyewitnesses also said that a police officer,

who went on to be part of the official

investigation, supervised the seizing and

spiriting away of critical evidence from the

spot. In their report, the civil-society

investigators state that the Maharashtra

police, particularly the Superintendent of

Police and the Inspector General of Police,

appeared to be in undue haste to close all

possibilities of a liquid-substance-driven

explosion, preferring to quote oral findings

of forensic experts from Aurangabad who are

reported to have told them that it was a

petrol-ignited fire. Among other evidence,

this conclusion is brought under serious

suspicion by the fact the explosion threw the

iron shutter of a nearby godown to a

distance of 40 feet an extremely long way

for a fire set off by burning gasoline.

The civil society team also refers to a nexus

between some police officials and the

rightwing Hindu outfits. According to the

probes findings, Nanded Police Inspector

Ramesh Bhurewar, who was leading the

investigation of the 2006 Nanded blast, was

also in charge of the investigation into the

Parbhani blasts in November 2003. During

the course of the long investigation, he did

not arrest anyone! A First Information Report

was only registered after a legislator raised a

question in the state assembly. But following

the Nanded blasts in April 2006, the accused

of Nanded blasts admitted to having placed

the bombs at Parbhani. As such, the civil-

society report concludes: The Nanded and

state police are hence guilty of underplaying

crimes wherein members of the minority

community are the victims, causing a loss of

face for the state police.

In their conclusion, the fact-finding team

demanded that the Central Government

keep a close watch over the increasing

incidence of Hindutva terror activities.

They also asked for independent

investigations under a team of neutral

officers; and impartial, public inquiries into

the Nanded, Malegaon, Parbhani and Purna

incidents, in order to ascertain whether

state intelligence and police agencies are

indeed professional and neutral enough to

investigate instances of politically driven

Hindutva violence.

History of hate

Post-Independence India is replete with

examples of the participation of Hindu


23

extremists in aggravating communal

situations, targeting particular communities,

and aiding and abetting riots. Those who

have watched the organisation since its

inception say that the terrorism label may

be modern, but the acts themselves,

fundamentalist to the core, are decades old:

making communally sensitive speeches that

culminate in riots; leading religious

processions in sensitive areas inhabited by

Muslims and other minorities; and outright

provocations leading people to engage in

violence.

Rajeshwar Dayal, chief secretary of Uttar

Pradesh at the time of Partition, provides in

his 1999 memoirs A Life of Our Times details

of another kind: damning evidence of RSS

chief Golwalkars plans to conduct a pogrom

against Muslims. Pyarelal Nayyar, Mohandas

Gandhis secretary during those tumultuous

times, adds to these accusations: It was

common knowledge that the RSS had been

behind the bulk of the killings in [Delhi] as

also in various other parts of India.

Contrary to the perception that the Sangh

Parivar has gained momentum only since the

1990s, various commissions that have looked

into communal riots since 1947 have

gathered a significant body of evidence on

the role of the RSS and affiliated

organisations. The Reddy Commission, which

in 1969 looked into rioting in Gujarat; the

Justice Madon Commission, which analysed

the riots in Bhiwandi, Maharashtra, in the

early 1970s; the Justice Vithayathil

Commission, which probed the 1971

Tellicherry riots all of these provide solid

details of the involvement of either the RSS

or its mass political platform, the Bharatiya

Jana Sangh, in fomenting the trouble.

Justice Venugopals report, on the

Kanyakumari riots of 1982, also severely

indicted the RSS for its role in instigating

riots against Christians. According to Justice

Venugopal, the RSS methodology for

provoking communal violence was as follows:

rousing communal feelings in the majority

community; deepening fear in the majority

community; infiltrating into the state

administration; training young people of the

majority community in the use of weapons;

and spreading rumours to widen communal

splits. About the shakhas that the RSS

organises under the rubric of physical

training, Justice Venugopal said that the aim

appeared to be to inculcate an attitude of

militancy and training for any kind of civil

strife.

It was only in 2004 that the Terrorism

Research Centre (TRC), a US-based institute,

declared the RSS a terrorist organisation,

lumping it together with a host of jihadi and

secessionist outfits, including the Lashkar-e-

Toiba, the United Liberation Front of Asom

(ULFA) and the Hizb ul-Mujahideen. This new

listing came close on the heels of an

internationally embarrassing incident for the

organizations following the ideology of

Hindutva, wherein Gujarat Chief Minister

Narendra Modi was denied a visa to travel to

the US. The two slaps in the face left the

Sangh Parivar leaders seething (although it

took more than eight months for the RSS to

formally react to the TRCs assessment). But


24

this was not the first time that Hindutva

organisations had earned international

opprobrium. In 2002, secular activists in the

US brought out a thoroughly researched

report called Funding Hate. For the first

time, this document exposed how funds

collected in the US by the India Development

and Relief Fund (the IDRF, an umbrella

organisation floated by the Hindutva

brigade) were directly sponsoring sectarian

violence in India.

Cover-up:

One potential reason for the inability of the

powers-that-be to establish a connection

between Hindu militants and acts of terror in

India could be the near absence of non-

Hindus in the central governments various

intelligence wings. Whatever the reasons,

this dearth is shocking. Barring the

Intelligence Bureau, which has around

12,000 personnel and only a few Muslim

officers, none of the other intelligence

departments have even a single Muslim

officer between them. From 1969 until

today, neither the Research and Analysis

Wing (RAW) nor the National Technical

Research Organisation (NTRO) has hired even

one Muslim officer. (Following the Malegaon

blasts, S M Mushrif, a retired India Police

Service officer, publicly disparaged the

Intelligence Bureau for having long been the

source of unsubstantiated rumours due to

deep-seated bias.) The state of affairs has

inevitably led to what can be dubbed the

governments rather monochromatic

presentation of the menace of terrorism in

recent years, with sole responsibility for

attacks almost immediately placed on

various Islamist groups, regardless of

evidence.

Despite a secular coalition currently

holding the reins of power at the Centre and

in many of Indias state administrations,

there have been depressingly few sincere

attempts to move beyond post-9/11

mythology and the rhetoric of the war on

terror, which demonises Islam. So complete

is this perspective that it is difficult to

decipher any qualitative difference between

the secular Congress and the communal

BJP in their responses to any act of terror.

Instead, even while we have been witness to

the dilly-dallying of the Congress following

the Nanded and Malegaon blasts, the same

Congress-led government had no qualms in

targeting Muslims as a community after the

July 2006 bomb blasts in Bombay. (In the

immediate aftermath of the Bombay attacks,

an anti-terrorist squad singled out the

Muslim community for suspicion, and

immediately began combing operations.)

The Maharashtra state administration has

also shown its anti-Muslim bias in times of

tragedy. Even while attesting to their

sadness over the Malegaon blast, state

officials saw to it that victims, the majority

of whom were Muslim, received just a fifth

of the compensation received by the victims

of the Bombay blasts of 1993 the majority

of whom were Hindu.

The fallout of this situation has been the

administrative failure to address terrorism

unleashed by Hindutva activists and

formations. One possible reason for the

governments ostrich-like position could be


25

that, due to electoral considerations, nobody

has wanted to displease the majority Hindus.

While it is true that Hindutva groups are not

currently in a majority at the Centre, the

impact of Hindutva nonetheless transcends

its strength in government. Note the

inability of secular groups to bring criminal

cases against the likes of communal leaders

like Shiv Sena supremo Bal Thackeray, and

the champions of Hindutva: Praveen

Togadia, Lal Krishna Advani or Narendra

Modi. Indeed, the present-day Congress itself

is a faint shadow of its Nehruvian avatar:

after all, it discovered the idea of soft

Hindutva two decades ago, in a bid to

further its hold on the reins of power.

It is time that the public be made aware of

the rising trajectory of Hindutva criminality.

The dangerous understanding that a

particular community, region or religious

ideology is more prone towards terrorist

activities needs to be refuted at all costs.

The people of South Asia in general, and

India in particular, need to be convinced

that there is no qualitative difference

between the violent acts committed by LTTE

suicide bombers, al-Qaeda jihadis, Khalistani

militants or members of militant Hindutva

organisations. This realisation could be the

first step in organising simultaneous social

and political strategies to expose, challenge

and dissolve these groups.

Contact: [email protected]

****

mailto:[email protected]


26

3. Malegaon, Modasa And Mehrauli Blasts: The Hindutva Connection?

By Subhash Gatade

04 October, 2008

Countercurrents.org

Saba Parveen still repents the fact that she

sent her younger sister Farheen to Bhikku

Chowk to buy some Pakoras. Little she could

have the premonition that she would never

get to see her 10 year old sister a class V

student alive.

The blast at Malegaon's Bhikku Chowk has

literally shattered the family of Shaikh

Liaquat Wahiuddin, Farheen's father who

lives around 100 feet away from the Chowk

near the Kasbapada masjid. A father of three

daughters and two sons and a wife has seen

all the hell broke loose soon after the bomb

blast.

The couple fainted when they reached Wadia

hospital to see their own daughter who had

suffered severe burns in the blast turned

lifeless.

The latest bomb blasts in Malegaon have

seen four deaths wherein a motorcycle

parked near old SIMI office which was laden

with explosives exploded killing four people

on the spot. It was worth noting that the

people living in the vicinity of the Chowk had

informed the police about this unclaimed

motorcycle standing there for hours

together. But the police did not bother to

turn up and reached the place only after the

blast which saw these deaths.

It is not difficult to imagine the palpable

anger which exists among people about the

callousness of the police and the insensitivity

of the administration. People of this town

which has a significant number of Muslim

populations have not forgotten the

treatment meted out to them by the police

and the administration when there were

similar blasts in the city during their

religious congregations killing 40 people in

2006. Despite enough hints about the

involvement of Hindutva terror groups in the

perpetration of these acts, where a torso

with a fake beard was also identified,

ultimately saw few Muslim youths getting

booked for this crime who are still

languishing in jail. A CBI enquiry which was

ordered after lot of pressure claims to have

reached a dead end.

In a recent meeting with Baba Siddique, the

'guardian' minister of Nasik, representatives

of different Muslim organisations in Malegaon

gave vent to their feelings of disgust and

deep hurt over the developments. Angry

community leaders asked the minister "You

blame SIMI for blasts in temples, you blame

SIMI for blasts in market places, you blame


27

SIMI for blast in Masjids. The latest blast has

taken place just below the SIMI office. Now

whom will you blame?" (Mail today, Oct 3,

2008)

Hemant Karkare, chief of the Anti Terrorist

Squad of Maharashtra Police, who was

instrumental in nabbing the activists of

Sanatan Sanstha and Hindu Janjagruti Samity

for the bomb blasts in Thane, Vashi and few

other places in Maharashtra (June 2008) and

his team of officers also shied away from

blaming some or the other Islamic terrorist

organisation for the blast. The perpetrators

of the bomb blast who had packed a

splendour motorcycle with nuts, bolts, nails

and ball bearings and three kilograms of

explosive material, near a mosque, beside a

SIMI office and the time chosen by them - on

the eve of Eid - has definitely put local

police and ATS groping in the dark.

But according to an investigative report filed

by Mailtoday (1 October 2008) : "Police,

however, are sure of one thing - that the

blasts in Malegaon and Modasa in Gujarat

were a coordinated effort, as both occurred

at around 9.30 p.m. in Muslim dominated

areas. Karkare felt that the Gujarat and the

Malegaon blasts were similar in nature also."

In fact any close watcher of the bomb blasts

in the country cannot miss the fact that

bikes have been a favourite instrument of

the Bajrang Dal to attack Muslims. A narco

test of those involved in Nanded bomb blasts

(April 2006) which saw deaths of two Bajrang

Dal activists had clearly revealed that

'mysterious blasts' in Parbhani in 2003 and

Jalna (2004) which involved perpetrators on

bikes throwing bombs at the congregation

and fleeing were actually the handiwork of a

terror module of the Bajrang Dal itself.

The report in Mailtoday further adds "This is

similar to the blast in Mehrauli market in

New Delhi blast on Saturday and also some

other cases where bombs were placed on

bikes." Of course Mailtoday is not alone in

pointing fingers at Hindu terror groups for

these bomb blasts, a detailed write-up in

Indian Express (Hindu Extremist Groups on

Radar In Malegaon Probe, Sagnik Chowdhury,

1st October 2008) reiterates the line of

thinking of the ATS officials as far as the

particular blast is concerned. "A day after

the Maharashtra police said it could not rule

out the possibility of Hindu extremist hand in

Monday's blast in Malegaon, investigators are

revisiting the crude bombs that were planted

in auditoriums on the outskirts of Mumbai

earlier this year." The ATS is planning to

question the activists of Hindu Janjagruti

Samiti, Sanatan Sanstha and other stray

Hindu extremist organisations for their

possible involvement in the act. The 1020

page charge sheet filed by the ATS in

September against the members of these

organisations for their terrorist acts is an

added reminder for it to pursue the case in a

balanced manner.

A deeper analysis of terror strikes since 2006

also reveal that there are at least five such

terror strikes which targeted minorities and

their religious places and they still remain

unresolved. A report filed by Aman Sharma

(Mailtoday, October 3, 2008) provides details

of these blasts and the status of


28

investigations. Jama Masjid blast (14

injured, April 2006 - Friday) where low

intensity, crude bombs were placed in a

polythene bag is still pending with Delhi

police, no outfit has been named. Malegaon

(40 killed, September 8, 2006 - Friday) which

saw four bombs outside mosques on Shab-e-

Barat where RDX-ammonium nitrate bombs

in boxes on bicycles was used, still remains

unresolved. The investigations in Samjhuta

Express blasts (66 killed, Feb 19, 2007)

where six bombs were planted inside Indo-

Pak Samjhauta Express has also not shown

any progress and neither any organisation

has been named. The case of Mecca Masjid

blasts (11 killed, May 18, 2007 -Friday)

where two bombs were planted inside Mecca

Masjid in boxes, is also pending with CBI.

The enquiry into Ajmer Sharif bomb blasts (3

killed, October 11, 2007 - Friday) where two

bombs in Tiffin boxes were used and where

ammonium nitrate bombs were triggered by

mobile phone has also not made much

headway. The case at present pending with

Rajasthan police has also not named any

organisation.

Looking at the fact that communal common

sense dominates the functioning of the

police and the media in our country it is

difficult to predict what will happen next.

The investigations into the recent Kanpur

blast (24 August 2008) which saw deaths of

two RSS activists, Rajiv Mishra and

Bhupendra Chopra, while making ammonium

nitrate bombs, is an example worth

studying. While the police took two of their

colleagues for narco analysis, it did not even

bother to question their alleged mentors -

one of whom happened to be a Professor in

IIT with RSS background.

****


29

4. Mossad-CIA Connection to Mumbai Terror Attacks?

By Yoginder Sikand

29 November, 2008

Countercurrents.org

O ye who believe! stand out firmly for God, as witnesses to fair dealing, and let not the hatred of

others to you make you swerve to wrong and depart from justice. Be just: that is next to piety: and

fear God. For God is well-acquainted with all that ye do.

(The Quran, Surah Al-Maida: 8)

Numerous theories are doing the rounds

about the dastardly terrorist assault on

Mumbai. The dominant view, based on what

is being suggested by the media, is that this

is the handiwork of the dreaded Pakistan-

based self-styled Islamist and terrorist outfit

Lashkar-e Tayyeba, which, ever since it was

ostensibly proscribed by the Government of

Pakistan some years ago, has adopted the

name of Jamaat ud-Dawah. This might well

be the case, for the Lashkar has been

responsible for numerous such terrorist

attacks in recent years, particularly in

Kashmir.

The Lashkar is the military wing of the

Markaz Dawat wal Irshad, an outfit floated

by a section of the Pakistani Ahl-e Hadith, a

group with close affiliations to the Saudi

Wahhabis. It has its headquarters at the

town of Muridke in the Gujranwala district in

Pakistani Punjab. The Markaz was

established in 1986 by two Pakistani

university professors, Hafiz Muhammad

Saeed and Zafar Iqbal. They were assisted by

Abdullah Azam, a close aide of Osama bin

Laden, who was then associated with the

International Islamic University in Islamabad.

Funds for setting up the organization are

said to have come from Pakistans dreaded

official secret services agency, the Inter

Services Intelligence (ISI). From its

inception, it is thus clear

Date post:	21-Jan-2017
Category:	Documents
Upload:	hakhanh
View:	236 times
Download:	3 times

Native Terror Factories An E Digest

Documents