People's Democracy

Editorial

Combat This  Hindutva Terror

HINDUTVA terror has, once again, raised its ugly head.  Two people have been killed in a bomb blast at Madgaon in Goa.  An organisation called the Sanatana Sanstha has been found responsible for this attack.  Police investigations have now revealed that the Sanatana Sanstha was also involved in the recent pre-state assembly elections communal clashes that had taken place in Sangli and Kolhapur districts of Maharashtra.  Sangli superintendent of police, Krishna Prakash has told the media that �We had information that Sanatan Sanstha members were distributing weapons to Hindus during the riots.  We had also seized a four-wheeler of the Sanatan Sanstha carrying swords and chains.  Three Sanatan Sanstha members were arrested in the case.� (The Indian Express)  In fact, the Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) of Maharashtra and its martyred former chief, Hemant Karkare had asked for a ban on the Sanatan Sanstha in June 2008 following a terrorist blast in Thane, Maharashtra.  The current ATS chief has confirmed that a proposal for banning this organisation was sent to the state government, but he was not aware of its current status. 

The recommendation came after the ATS arrested six men with alleged links to this outfit. Sources say the suspects involved in the September 29, 2008 Malegaon blast � the members of Abinav Bharat and Jai Vande Matram Samiti � are from Jabalpur, Bhopal and Kanpur. However, they conducted conspiracy meetings at Deolali and Nasik. Moreover, a Malegaon blast accused, Rakesh Dhawade, allegedly organised a terror training camp for Bajrang Dal members near Sinhgarh Fort in Pune in 2003. 

In these columns in the past, we had repeatedly drawn attention to reports linking some RSS affiliates with various bomb blasts across the country. The CPI(M)�s intervention in the  October 13, 2008  meeting of the National Integration Council stated: �Police investigations in the past few years have noted the involvement of Bajrang Dal or other RSS organisations in various bomb blasts across the country � in  2003, in Parbani, 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 etc.� Subsequently, on September 29, 2008, the ATS rounded up a number of RSS people for questioning and arrest including Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur and the commandant of the Bhonsala Military School, Nasik. 

The issue of imparting militant training to the Hindus has a long history.  It was Savarkar who gave the slogan �Hinduise all politics and militarise Hindudom�.  Inspired by this, Dr B S Moonje, mentor of RSS founder Dr Hegdewar, traveled to Italy to meet the fascist dictator, Mussolini. The meeting took place on March 19, 1931.  His personal diary notes of March 20 reveal his fascination and admiration of the manner in which  Italian fascism was training its youth  (read storm-troopers) militarily.  Upon return to India, Dr Moonje established the Central Hindu Military Education Society at Nasik in 1935, the precursor to the Bhonsala Military School established in 1937.  Golwalkar, in 1939, exults Hitler�s purging of the Jews under Nazi fascism and says that it is �a good lesson for us in Hindustan to learn and profit by�. More recently, following the demolition of the Babri Masjid, the RSS tentacles, VHP and Bajrang Dal, had publicly prided themselves at the training imparted to `kar sevaks�.  The then BJP chief minister of Uttar Pradesh publicly stated that he was proud of the kar sevaks who accomplished the job of demolishing the Babri Masjid  more speedily and efficiently than any professional contractor. 

In this context, the pleas by the RSS and its affiliates to not use the term Hindu militancy or terrorism are, indeed, mysterious.  Clearly, no religious community, as a whole, can be held responsible for the terrorist activities of individuals belonging with it.  However, should this not apply to all religions?  Not according to the RSS.  At its recent Akhila Bhaarateeya Karyakaarini Mandali Baitak, October 17-19, 2008, it adopted a resolution titled, `Curb Islamic terrorism with an iron hand�.  Apart from such double standards, this resolution showers praise on the police force in Maharashtra and elsewhere particularly on the ATS for �their successful actions�.  This is now turning out to be very embarrassing for the RSS as it is the same ATS that has now acted, rightly in the country's interests, against Hindutva terrorist outfits.  The current investigations in the Goa attacks must be speedily concluded and the law of the land must  take its course.

The time has come for all these cases to be thoroughly investigated and to ensure that the guilty are punished.  These developments, in fact, have proved the two assertions we have repeatedly made in these columns in the past.  First, terrorism has no religion.  It is simply anti-national and, hence, non negotiable and not acceptable.  Secondly, terrorism of all hues only feed and strengthen each other.  In the process, they destroy the very unity and integrity of our country. 

This larger pernicious ideological methods of using terror as an instrument of political mobilisation is widening its footprint. Terror whipped up through communal polarisation or regional chauvinism to garner larger electoral support is the surest recipe to tear asunder India�s complex social fabric.  To safeguard and strengthen modern India�s secular democratic foundations, it is imperative that such politics are defeated. 

(21 October 2009)