Friday, November 14, 2008
Times of India does it again - VII
The BJP has been in a mode of denial since the ATF arrested Sadhvi Pragya Thakur, formerly with the BJP's student wing, in the Malegaon blasts case. First, Singh claimed that a believer in cultural nationalism couldn't be a terrorist. Since then, more sangh parivar activists have been arrested in connection with the blasts. The BJP should wake up to this serious threat to national security from within the sangh parivar's ranks and not shift the blame to the police. The party should also rein in leaders like Gorakhpur MP Yogi Adityanath who has been issuing provocative statements against the police. Hindu monks are liable to prosecution if found guilty of terrorism like other citizens of this country. The charges could be challenged in the court but party leaders should not slam the arrests as a political conspiracy without evidence. Terrorism of any ideological persuasion is unacceptable and political parties should make that clear to cadres.
For the BJP, this is a moment of reckoning. The party has to decide whether it wants to protect extremists in its ranks or adopt liberal political views. Singh, unfortunately, seems to prefer the former and his shrill comments resemble those of politicians like Shiv Sena leader Bal Thackeray who recently called for forming Hindu suicide squads. A national party like the BJP can't afford to mimic the likes of Thackeray.
It is up to senior BJP leaders like L K Advani to clarify that there is no ambiguity about the party's position on terrorism. However, they have been largely silent. As a party expected to be in the running to form the government after the next general elections, the BJP needs to clarify its stand on all forms of terror. The country is waiting.
Hindu Terrorism - Editotial - URDU TIMES, Urdu Daily, Mumbai
Urdu Times, Urdu Daily, Mumbai
Thursday, November 13, 2008
Editorial
Hindu Terrorism
Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS) has achieved the spectacular success in opening the Pandora's Box of Hindu terrorism. However, the same Pandora's Box could be instantly slammed close, if and when RSS's protégé BJP led coalition, the NDA, forms its government at the center and comes to power in various states. Some experts are of the firm opinion that whoever forms the next government at the center and in the states, the genie of Hindu Terrorism cannot be pushed back into the bottle easily. A third group of analysts hold that the whole card of Hindu Terrorism has been played to political mileage. As for the public may have come to regard Hindu Terrorism as open secret now, for the ruling political parties, governments and state security agencies it never was a secret any time ever. After Nanded, Ghatkoper and Kanpur bomb explosions, lower level police machinery was fully aware of everything that the explosion represented. Except for the Tankashi bomb blast, the pattern of all the three blast was very much the same. At administrative level, Tankashi and Kannur go to complete the picture. That is that all the explosions happened during bomb making and all those died while preparing the bombs, belonged to the same Sangh Parivar (RSS, Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP), Bajrang Dal. For comparative identification and grouping, we can line up Tankashi with Malegaon and Modasa. According to police and ATS in these three places, people from Sangh Parivar's affiliates – Abhinav Bharat, Hindu Vahini, ABVP and RSS were involved who with help from some current and past (retd) Army officers had been instrumental in planning and executing the terrorist bomb blasts. On the other hand, in fact, there has never been one single incident, when a Muslim had been either found dead while making bombs or had been caught while making bombs. No material for bomb making or no ready bombs were found from any home of a Muslim, nor from any riverbed near any Muslim's house, nor from any nearby pond or well. Besides, former Chief Minister of Digvijay Singh is on record for publicly announcing that RSS has been involved in bomb making for a long time and proof of that bomb making operations have been duly sent to the Central authorities. However, till today nrither any organisation of the Sangh Parivar has been declared as terrorist organisation, nor any restrictions were imposed nor associates of those who died in bomb-making incidents have been arrested as terrorists. In sharp contrast, those Muslims arrested in wrongly accused charge of bombings, and the organisations to which they belonged were declared as terrorist organisation without any delay whatsoever. On all these, charges were framed under the old Tada, Pota, Mcoca, Gujcoca acts and Sangh Parivar has declared as unpatriotic and treason, the very act of legally defending these accused. On the other hand, Hindu Yuva Vahini chief Yogi Adityanath had challenged Union Home Minister Shivraj Patil and Maharashtra's Home Minister R. R. Patil, that if they have courage, they should personally come and arrest him. ATS seeks to question the Yogi about those arrested, Sadhvi and her co-accused in the Malegaon and Modasa cases. Meanwhile, beside Shiv Sena, a whole army of Sanghi Hindutva intellectuals, journalists, think tanks is lined up to forcefully support the accused terrorists. They condemn the ongoing debate in media over the Hindu terrorism. In Economic Times (Wednesday, November 12, 2008), on the same lines, an article by P. R. Ramesh is published in which he writes: "Propagandists on the Left-Liberal brigade have created the perception that the threat from the Hindu groups is graver than that from the radical Islamic groups." One thing is very clear from the attitude of the Sanghi propagandists that 'Hindu Terrorism' is now a fact, but now that this Pandora's box has opened up, it is difficult to ignore it, as all sympathisers of Hindu terrorism are justifying it as 'REVENGE ATTACKS'. The real intent of ATS and its political supporters will be revealed within the next 6 or 7 months when coming elections are over and the new governments in center as well as in states will be in the saddle. Still our firm belief is that divine ways of punishment is not necessarily with sound and fury and the world may conspire in whatever manner it chooses, Allah's will be done.
