Communal riots in 2006 - A review

-- By Asghar Ali Engineer

This is as usual our annual survey of communal riots and events during 2006. This was comparatively a year with few riots. In fact post-Gujarat India has witnessed fewer riots. Gujarat was indeed another watershed like the one after post-Babri riots. It has been witnessed that after some major riot, subsequent years witness smaller and fewer riots. Mumbai riots after demolition of Babri Masjid by Sangh Parivar fanatics were also very intense and widespread in 1992-93 in which more than one thousand persons perished. After Mumbai riots there was no major riot with the exception of Coimbatore riots (in which 40 persons were killed) until Gujarat happened.

Gujarat was really earthshaking both in its intensity and in its brutality and direct involvement of state machinery. In fact nothing like Gujarat had happened in post-independence period. Gujarat happened in 2002 and since Gujarat no major riot like it has happened. Such major riots perhaps make even communal forces make so nervous by exposure of media that it takes quite sometime for them to gather courage for next major communal riot. Also, after riots like the ones in Gujarat, 2002, it becomes difficult for communal forces to get people's support for another one for quite some time. It is also important to note that the next major riot does not usually occur at the same place. For example, after Mumbai riot of 1992-93 next major riot took place in Gujarat, not in Mumbai. Similarly earlier during eighties many major riots took place but subsequent riot never occurred at the same place.

So after Gujarat there has been no major riot so far. During 2006 several small riots took place in different places. The first riot occurred at Baroda on 17th January. Two groups of Hindus and Muslims clashed on some petty matter in which two persons were injured. The police and Rapid Action Force came into action and prevented further trouble. Three persons were arrested.

On 3rd February there were clashes between those going for Friday prayers in Kamalmaula Masjid and Bhojshala temple for worship in Dhar, Madhya Pradesh. The Hindu Jagran Manch, a Sangh Parivar unit has been claiming that Kamalmaula Masjid is a Hindu temple and Dhar has become communally highly sensitive place and clashes occur here frequently. More than 300 Muslims were prevented from entering the mosque to pray and police had to resort to lathicharge and fire teargas shells and impose curfew. Muslims had to pray in a temporary structure outside. Later on curfew was relaxed and Hindus were allowed to perform puja.

Very surprisingly clashes between Muslims and Buddhists occurred in Leh in J&K on 10th February. The mob set ablaze a house at Horay Gonpa in protest against the alleged desecration of Qur'an. 31 persons were arrested in clashes between Muslims and Buddhists. The Qur'an was allegedly kept inside the mosque in Bodh Kharboo in Kargil. Curfew had to be imposed which continued for few days and Army had to stage flag march. Leh, in a sense, is communally sensitive as earlier too clashes had occurred between Muslims and Buddhists.

There were clashes in Muzaffarnagar, U.P. between communities on 17th February during demonstrations against cartoons of the Prophet of Islam. Six persons were injured. The sentiments were inflamed as U.P.'s minister of Haj Haji Muhammad Yaqoob announced reward of 51 crores of rupees for anyone who brings the head of the cartoonist. PAC was posted to control the situation. In Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh also clashes occurred between Muslims and Hindus in which one shop was set on fire and 5 persons were injured on same day i.e. on 11th February in Char Minar and other areas. Hyderabad witnessed similar disturbances again on 24th February when a religious place was desecrated in Karwan locality. The faces of lions installed outside the religious place were found broken. Immediately large number of people collected and began stoning the houses of other community. Police had to resort to lathicharge to disperse the mob.

On 3rd March Lucknow which is not so communally sensitive witnessed communal clashes between Hindus and Muslims in which 4 persons were killed while Muslims were staging demonstrations against Prophet's cartoons after Friday prayers in Aminabad, Qaiserganj, Latoosh Road when Muslims forced shopkeepers to down their shutters. However, according to Muslim source disturbances started when Khatiks (Hindu slaughterers) stoned Muslims protesting against Prophet's cartoons. Then firing started from both sides in which 4 persons were killed. Majority of those injured were Muslims. In retaliation Muslims stoned many vehicles and damaged them and set fore to effigies of Bush.

Goa also witnessed communal violence on 4th March when Muslims took out protest march against demolition of a structure used for prayer by the minority community. To save the minority community, police claimed, they were evacuated. The Congress blamed the Hindu fundamentalists for disturbances. The Hindus stoned the Protest march. Then the mob ransacked several establishments and torched vehicles. Police fired in the air when someone attacked inspector Gaad and snatched his revolver. Two persons were injured in the firing. About 100 persons were arrested.

Bangalore saw communal violence on 10th March when dispute started between members of two communities in a Muslim majority area of city on the question of barking of dog. The argument between youths of two communities and 9 persons were injured when stoning started and one person was seriously injured in stabbing. The police brought the situation under control.

On March 26 Baroda witnessed communal violence once again in Fatehpura area. More than 100 persons gathered and stoned in which 6 persons were injured. The dispute between the two communities arose on small matter and soon engulfed the area in violence. Of the injured four were seriously injured and had to be hospitalised.

Aligarh flared up on the eve of Navratri on April 6 and four persons were killed. The two communities indulged in stoning and firing. It was alleged that Muslims removed the decorative lighting of a temple and violence flared up. Then the clash occurred with Muslims in Sabzi Mandi and Daiwali Gali. In fact, some alleged that when a piyao (structure for drinking water) was sought to be used as temple and was decorated with lights on the occasion of Navratri, the dispute started and took violent form. Besides 4 persons who died, 13 were injured of which 6 were in critical condition. Curfew had to be imposed in the area of five police stations.

On April 11, on the occasion of Prophet's birth day Khandwa was engulfed in communal violence and in Pali in Rajasthan was also affected on this occasion. Twelve persons were injured in stoning in Khandwa. In both the places indefinite curfew was imposed. The police sources in Khandwa said that dispute started when some Muslims removed a Raavi Pandal in Jalebi chowk. In Pali, 10 persons were injured when a procession of Mahavir Jayanti was stoned. Some Muslims objected to procession being taken from Pinjara Mohalla and trouble started.

Thana experienced communal disturbances on 24th April. It is reported that one Muslim was unloading wood from a truck when two Hindu youth objected. However, matter was apparently settled but at night around 10 p.m. some Hindu youth came with swords and attacked Muslim houses. But Bajrang Dal group leader Prakash Ramkumar Yadav claimed that clashes started when he and his father were attacked and injured. But Mahmood Dalvi said he received a phone call from the area and when he reached there Ramprakash Yadav, along with 150 others were attacking Muslim houses. They were saying that we will make this area Gujarat. It was also alleged that when Muslim houses were being attacked the local MLA Eknath Sinde and policemen were silent spectators. Muslims alleged that police was arresting us instead of mischief mongers and attackers. Muslims felt terrorised by Bajrang Dal activists and lack of police support.

On April 25 one person was killed in Bhivandi, a Shiv Sainik, on the question of playing cricket. Four others were injured. It all started with a cricket ball hitting a Hindu woman and Muslim boys refusing to stop playing cricket. They forcibly stopped and slapped the boys. The boys threatened to return and settle score. They, some 30 in all returned with sticks, chains and stumps and attacked Mohan. Mohan later succumbed to his injuries. Police arrested six boys and was looking for 20 others.

Baroda, communally highly inflammable place since early eighties, once again was in flames on May 1st when a three hundred year old dargah of Chishti Rashiduddin was demolished by Vadodara Municipal Corporation which sparked riots in which 4 persons were killed and more than 12 were injured in police firing. Two of the dead had bullet injuries while other two were stabbed. It was demolished as an 'illegal structure'. How can a three hundred year old dargah be declared as illegal?

Initially there was argument between residents of the locality but matter worsened when police intervened leading to riots which soon spread in different parts of the city. The police failed to disperse the mob by lathicharge and resorted to firing. Later on one Muslim was burnt alive along with his car and when people phoned control room police allegedly said 'Go to Pakistan'. According to one estimate in all 6 persons died.

On intervention by Kamaluddin Bawa, it was agreed by Muslims that a portion of Mazar could be sliced of for road widening but when Muslims discovered that VMC plans to demolish entire Mazar they protested. The corporators most of whom were from BJP, also maintained that when they could demolish temples why can't VMC demolish dargah. But they forgot that temples were unauthorised and of recent origin whereas dargah was three hundred years old and could not be called 'illegal'. Anyway it resulted in serious communal violence resulting in death of six persons. On 18th May dead bodies of two children were found in decomposed state in the dicky of a car belonging to a VHP leader. How heinous crimes these communal fanatics can commit!

Aligarh witnessed another bout of communal violence on 29th May when a BJP leader was murdered and in retaliation two persons were killed. The police further extended the curfew which was already force since last eruption of violence and clamped it in two more areas. Thus curfew was clamped in all five police station areas. Ahmedabad also experienced communal violence after a scooter rider knocked down person of another community near a place of worship. The police resorted to lathi charge and in all 30 persons were injured both in lathicharge and stoning between persons of two communities.

Next communal violence erupted in Karoli, Rajastan on 16th June when at a tea stall a mentally unstable person put cow dung on Qur'an and wrote objectionable things on it and showed it to people. This caused provocation to Muslims who set fire to two Hindu shops besides damaging some stalls. They then marched to collector's office and submitted a memorandum demanding action against the offender. Some Hindus set fire to an autorickshaw. There were some incidents of stabbing also.

On 18th June there was incidence of communal violence in Goda village in Pratapgarh district of U.P. Two girls were burnt alive after the murder of a Hindu youth by some unknown persons. As the news of Hindu youth's murder spread hundreds of people poured in Gonda village with weapons and attacked establishment of a Muslim community in Gonda, Baldu and Subedar villages. Over 100 houses were set ablaze in which two girls were charred to death. These three villages border on Pratapgarh and Raebareli districts. Immediate police reinforcements were rushed and situation was controlled. Some 100 persons were arrested. On fourth September Raesen town in M.P. saw eruption of communal violence. Some persons allegedly threw pieces of beef at Jain temple. Hearing this news Hindus began to gather in large numbers and began stoning shops belonging to Muslims and damaging them. The police tried to disperse mob by firing teargas shells and when crowd did not disperse it fired three rounds in the air. Police reinforcements and rapid Action Force was brought to keep situation under control.

Ganpati festival is another occasion for eruption of communal violence. This year on 7th September Rabori area of Thane, near Mumbai and Usmanabad in Marathwada saw eruption of communal violence. In Rabori Muslims and those in the Ganpati procession clashed and began stoning but the police was quite alert and immediately brought the situation under control within 15 minutes.

However, it was more serious in Usmanabad where those in the Ganpati procession began throwing gulal (red powder) at Muslims in an inebriated state. They threw stones at the mosque and several Muslim shops. They also began to set fire to shops and vehicles and broke open some shops. It went on till late at night. It began from Khwajanagar of Shams chowk and continued right up to Samtanagar, near the place where Ganpati is submerged in water. Police arrested 64 persons from both the communities.

Nanded is another communally sensitive town in Marathwada region of Maharashtra. It witnessed communal violence on 29th September when student organisation Chava took out procession against reservation on religious grounds and passed through a Muslim locality and began stoning a mosque and damaged stalls selling iftar (breaking fast) eatables as it was month of Ramadan. These students having support of Shalinitai, a Maratha leader, were carrying lathis and other sharp weapons. They were shouting slogans against Muslims and attacked Abidin mosque near Bank of Hyderabad and damaged stalls selling fruits for Iftar. The vehicle belonging to Chava was full of stones. They were also carrying and waving swords. The police remained silent spectator and did not take any action against students. This procession was taken out when article 144 was in force. But police Dy.S.P. Abdurrazzaq claimed it lathicharged the processionists and arrested 30 of the Chava Organisation.

Mangalore in South Karnataka is highly sensitive area and BJP has its stronghold here. Since the BJP became part of ruling coalition in Karnataka, the communal situation has deteriorated there. The police is playing partisan role and Sangh Parivar members have become quite bold. Mangalore area has history of communal violence. In 1998 Surathkal riots 8 persons were killed and Muslim properties were widely damaged. This time around 2 persons were killed in Mangalore area between October 4 and 7 but also in between hundreds of minor skirmishes took place between Hindus and Muslims.

The communal polarisation has been created by BJP since 1992 when Babri Masjid was demolished and JP has reaped benefits in elections by winning 11 seats in Assembly elections of 2004 from the region. According to T.A. Jhonson of Indian Express "several flashpoints for communal violence have emerged from the issue of transportation of cows in violation of a state law to eve teasing to inter-religious relationships." Also, the minorities complain of administration's bias since the BJP became partner in coalition. Ironically the Mangalore district is under the charge of a BJP minister. The rightwing Hindu youth feel that they can get away with anything. Those in 15-25 year age group are cause of frequent violence against Muslims and over-react on issues like cow transportation as they feel no action will be taken against them.

However, Hamid Khan, member of the Muslim Central Committee said that police acted swiftly after outbreak of violence on October 4 and imposed curfew effectively, otherwise situation would have got out of control. The BJP minister Nagaraj Shetty also gave assurance that action will be taken against the guilty "without politics". The Janata Dal (Secular) which allied with BJP blamed Bajrang Dal and SIMI for violence.

On the occasion of Diwali on 22nd October communal violence erupted in three districts of U.P. Muzaffarnagar, Blandshahar and Ambedkarnagar. In Khalapar region of Muzaffarnagar a firecracker was ignited and dispute started with this between some Hindus and Muslims and violence erupted in which one person was killed and more than three were injured. There was firing from rooftops, which continued for half an hour resulting death of one person. Mulayamsingh declared compensation of Rs.5 lakhs for family of Pankaj killed in the clashes. Another person, a student of 11th class was murdered in Ambedkarnagar and communal disturbances started in which several people were injured including some police officers. Here many shops and houses were also damaged.

From what has been narrated above it can be seen that several small riots take place on small matters like playing cricket or lighting a cracker or someone being knocked down by a scooterist and so on. Why does it assume communal colour? The obvious reason is that communal forces indulge in communal propaganda and poison the minds of people and this continues throughout the year without any respite. This helps create communal mindset and even personal disputes between Hindus and Muslims then acquire communal colour and becomes cause of communal violence.

Communal propaganda going on unceasingly becomes greatest obstacle in smooth relationship between two major communities of India. Unfortunately the governments even in the Congress ruled states do not contemplate any action against such propaganda though there are laws prohibiting such propaganda creating ill will between communities. Not only this, there is pronounced bias in text books taught in government as well as private schools from primary to secondary levels. These text-books also help create polarisation in our country. Education has thus become part of the problem instead of part of the solution.

One more thing which we observe from description of riots above that these incidents sparking communal violence do not assume major proportions only because political parties do not perceive any political benefit in spreading communal violence and police curbs violence by taking effective action. However, if politicians perceive any direct benefit they immediately exploit the incidents to create major communal flare up. Thus it is mainly politicians who are responsible for major communal flare up. The violence will be contained if politicians do not want and it will assume major proportions, if they desire communal violence for electoral politics like in Mumbai in 1992 and Gujarat in 2002.

It is only proper awareness among people and active role of civil society actors which can help contain major mishaps. We need aware and vibrant civil society to contain outbreak of major communal violence. When civil society gets polarised on communal lines as in Gujarat, it becomes very difficult for civil society to intervene

 

Ref: People's Union for Civil Liberties

Shahbaz Ahmed wrongly charged in connection with serial bomb blasts in Jaipur

A PUCL-PUHR report

Shahbaz Ahmed s/o Mumtaz Ahmed (9889406961) , resident of Bhadohi, 32 years old, was a member of SIMI as a student. He completed his B.Sc. and then B.J. from Kashi Vidyapeeth in Varanasi . Two years after completion of his studies he got married to Sadaf d/o Abdul Moid (9792439090) in 2002. Since he was not interested in the carpet business of his father he decided to move to Lucknow in 2004 with his wife to try his luck as a journalist. His father-in-law spent 8.5 lakh rupees after selling his house in Sultanpur to buy and renovate a house for Sadaf and Shahbaz in Molviganj, Lucnkow. Additionally, he spent Rs. 1 lakh to help him get started with a cyber café business couple of years ago. However, he changed his business to Career consultancy, training and foreign education. He was also planning to start a travel agency.

According to his wife, who herself is a B.Com and CIC from KNI in Sultanpur, Shahbaz was a soft spoken and introvert but polite person. He used to offer Namaz five times a day but was not a fundamentalist. He used to wear western clothing and would occasionally take her to cinema and parks. In fact, she said that she was pleasantly surprised that Shahbaz was not a very conservative person and allowed her independence in various matters. He was not proficient in Urdu and could read it with difficulty. He used to write in Hindi and English. He desired to send his children, three in number with the eldest being 4 years old, to City Montessori School , a modern centre of education in Lucknow . Shahbaz had discontinued his association with SIMI after marriage.

The owner of Adarsh Market, where his shop Zyna Career Consultants was located, Rais Ansari, said that he would not have renewed the contract with Shahbaz if he would have found anything wrong with him. On the contrary, he was full of praise for his behaviour. Naveen Sharma, who has a shop on the first floor of the building in which Shahbaz was on second floor, was shocked at the implication of Shahbaz in bomb blast incident. Shahbaz would exchange greetings when passing by his shop in going up to and coming down from his shop. Mohammad Mubin Bablu, the President of Aminabad Vyapar Mandal Madhya, of which Shahbaz was a member, testified to his professional qualities.

Mohammed Furkan, in the business of footwear, and Arjun Singh, a retd. Government employee, who lives in the neighbourhood of Shahbaz found nothing unusual with Shahbaz. He used to exchange greetings with everybody while going to and coming from his shop. He did not have any group of friends or frequent visitors. Shahbaz preferred to spend time with his family when away from work. He used to get some newspapers and periodicals at his home, but none of them of religious nature.

The office bearers of Jamat-e-Islami, whose office he would pass by everyday while going to and coming back from work, confirmed that he never attended any of their meetings or social functions. He probably never went there.

It was alleged by Rajasthan police that transactions in crores had taken place from his bank account. We checked both his bank accounts. In the account with IndusInd Bank which he recently tried to open with a cheque of Rs. 10,000, the balance was zero as the cheque had bounced. In another account with SBI, initially in the name of Sadaf in which Shahbaz's name was also added later, the balance was Rs. 1,806. There was no transaction between December, 2007 and May, 2008. The single largest transaction was that of Rs. 15,000. The bank accounts portray a picture of a struggling middle class entrepreneur who was mostly raising his family on his daily earnings.

He had only two employees at his shop - an assistant Sarika and a helper Rahul, incidentally both Hindu.

His neighbours and shop owners in proximity of his shop confirmed that he hardly used to travel outside. His wife mentioned a few occasions when he went on vacation with his family. He had never been to Jaipur, which was also confirmed by Mahendra Chaudhary, Addl. S.P. and the investigating officer of Rajasthan Police in his case.

It is alleged by the Rajasthan Police that Shahbaz Ahmed sent e-mail from a cyber café based in Sahibabad, Ghaziabad between 10th to 13th May just before the blasts in Jaipur. However, following are the results of our verification of the record of phone calls made from his land line phone in his office situated in Molviganjj, Lucknow , during this period.

(i) Call made on 10th May at 09973472944, 12:48 hrs. in Bokaro to Mussarat regarding admission to a University in Singapore . There was another call made at 16:28 hrs on same day and then on 12/05/08 at 14:00 hrs and 16:23 hrs. and on 13/05/08 at 16:34 hrs. Mussarat confirmed that he had spoken to Shahbaz Ahmed.

(ii) Call made on 12th May at 022 24450617, 12:07 pm to Arbab Travels, Mumbai. It could not be confirmed whether it was actually Shahbaz who had called.

(iii) Call made on 13th May at 044 42125454, 19:01 hrs. to Sriram of Singapore Worldwide Students' Placement in Chennai regarding tie-up with this agency. Call made again at this number on same day at 19:17 hrs. Most likely Shahbaz Ahmed talked to Sriram because there was nobody else in his office who could speak about this matter.

(iv) Call made on 13th May at 09967141997, 12:08 hrs. to Hasan, a real estate agent. It could not be confirmed whether it was Shahbaz who had made this call

STD calls could be made from the phone in Shahbaz's office only after unlocking the code. Hence, most likely all the above calls were made by Shahbaz as it is very unlikely that Sarika or anybody else would have made these calls from his office.

Rajasthan Police has alleged that Shahbaz has been identified by the owner of the Cyber Café but this identification after a lapse of five months is doubtful in itself as the café is daily frequented by so many persons.

Rajasthan Police has also alleged that a laptop computer was recovered from Shahbaz whereas the fact is that Shahbaz did not possess a laptop.

Conclusion: We think that Shahbaz Ahmed is innocent and has been picked up by police merely because he was a one time member of SIMI and his name probably cropped up in interrogation of one of the accused picked up earlier than him. Or may be police got hold of some membership list of SIMI from the years when he was a member. Shahbaz's life has changed after his marriage and it is unlikely that a person would be involved in bomb blasts in May when a child is born to his wife in April by a major operation. He seems to have been mostly busy trying to establish his business to ensure a decent earning to raise his family.

The verification of calls made from his land line phone in office proves the presence of Shahbaz Ahmed in Lucknow between 10th and 13th May, 2008 and contradicts the version of Rajasthan police of his presence in Sahibabad during this period. Identification of Shahbaz by the owner of the Cyber café after a lapse of five months is also doubtful.

Members of Fact Finding team: (1) S.R. Darapuri,. IPS (Retd) (UP), 9415164845, sdarapuri@yahoo. co.in (2) Sandeep Pandey, Social Activist, 0522 2347365, ashaashram@yahoo. com (3) S.M. Naseem,. IPS (Retd ) (UP) (4) J.A. Khan IAS (Retd.) (J&K) (5) Mohammed Saif Babar, Advocate (6) Syed Moid Ahmed, Social Activist

Report brought out on behalf of People's Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL), UP Chapter, and People's Union for Human Rights (PUHR)

 

Ref: People's Union for Civil Liberties 

A report on bomb blast at the house of prominent RSS activist in Nanded, Maharashtra

--- By Dr Suresh Khairnar, Ahmad Kadar and Arvind Ghosh,
Secular Citizen's Forum & PUCL, Nagpur, May 2006  

Bomb blasts at the house of a RSS activist at Nanded on 6th April 2006 was not reported in any newspaper outside Nanded. We in Nagpur came to know about the blasts through a Mumbai based anti-communal activist Ram Puniyani who phoned to inform us of the incident & suggested that a fact finding team should immediatly visit Nanded to find out the facts.

We, three activists of Dharma Nirapeksha Nagarik Manch, Nagpur, Dr Suresh Khairnar, convener (DNNM, Nagpur and PUCL, Nagpur), Ahmad Kadar & Arvind Ghosh proceeded to Nanded on 22nd April 2006 morning at 10am & reached Nanded the same evening at 6pm. We reached the spot of the bomb blast immediately on reaching Nanded.

The house is located in Patbandhare Nagar in Taroda Budruk Upanagar, a densely populated area of Nanded. It is a posh two storied house of approx 3000sq ft built up area, now locked from outside by the police since the day of the blast. The name of the house prominently written on the wall was: Sri Laxmi Nrisinha. The name of the house owner written on the nameplate was Laxmanrao Rajkondwar, ex- executive engineer at Irrigation department. The man is a known RSS activist in the city. Two huge paintings adorned the walls of his house, one that of Lord Ram, another that of Hanuman. A Bajrangdal flag was flying high on the top of the house.

The first question that comes to mind is why should anyone indulge in the secret & sinister activity of making bombs in such a prominent house which can be identified even from a distance as the house owned by a Sangh Parivar person? The only plausible explanation seems to be that the prominent house of a respectable person is a good cover for such activities. Son's business of selling crackers provided a double cover for manufacturing of bombs.

The neighbors we met were tight lipped & did not want to say much, except that on 6th April at about 1.30am they had woken up to an extremely loud noise and a powerful vibration under the impact of which their windows had opened automatically. When we asked the neighbor staying in the opposite house, how come he did not have even an inkling of the activities of his neighbor, he said you might stay opposite a neighbor for an entire life & yet may not know a thing about them. However he vouched that his neighbors were perfect gentlemen, religious & respectable people. He also told us that next to his house live a police constable who had reported about the blast to the nearby Bhagya Nagar police station.

Next we visited this police station at Bhagya Nagar, which is at a stone throwing distance from Rajkondwar's house. The Policemen however refused to co-operate with us saying that Srikant Mahajan, PI, who is dealing with the case is not available. He was not reachable through his mobile either. Those who were present at the police station refused to divulge any information regarding the incident.

From the police station we proceeded to the house of Rajaram Wattamwar who is a local working president of Rashtra Seva Dal,a retired professor with socialist background. The first question he asked us was what was the motive of our fact-finding team? He strongly felt that the innocents should not be implicated in the incident & he hoped that this was what had brought us to Nanded. Laxman Rajkondwar according to him is a good man, a very religious & respectable man. He had gone to Shirdi with his wife, daughter-in law & granddaughter when the incident happened in his home. It must have been an accident etc.

The views of Rajaram Wattaram's on the incident of bomb blast, who is also the president of an organization supposedly formed to expose Sangh Parivar shows the amount of communal bias among the Hindu community.

However he was good enough to provide us with the copies of the local newspapers of days immediately following the incident. He even helped us to contact the editors of some of the local newspapers. It is from theses newspapers as well as our visit to the office of Prajavani, a reputed local newspaper & interaction with its editor & the reporter dealing with the bomb blast incident that we could gather a fair amount of information about the bomb blasts.

On that fateful morning at 1.30am hearing the loud explosion & powerful vibration (which some mistakenly thought was an earthquake) people ran towards the house of Rajkondwar & saw smoke coming out of the house. The impact of the blast was so great that some of the doors & windows of the house had blown away to a distance of 50ft.Two boys were found dead on the spot & three were found seriously injured. One of the boys killed was Naresh Rajkondwar (age 29) the son of Laxman Rajkondwar the owner of the house. The second boy killed was Himansu Venkatesh Panse (age 31). Three persons seriously injured were 1) Yogesh Ravindra Deshpande (31), 2) Maruti Kishor Wagh (22) and 3) Gururaj Jayram Tupttewar (25). The sixth person who in spite of injury managed to escape was Rahul Pande. At first police & the press had declared that only 5 persons were present in the house at the time of the incident. It seems that after interrogation of the 3 injured persons they came to know about the escaped person Rahul Pande who managed to escape on a motorcycle, first to Umarkhed & then to Pusad for treatment of his injuries. He is reported to have told the doctors that he suffered the injuries due to a cylinder burst. He was later arrested from Pusad.

The story that was published in the next morning newspapers was that the blast occurred due to sudden bursting of crackers stored in the house as part of the family business. But doubts persisted, since if crackers catch fire there would normally be a series of bursts & not a single powerful blast as had happened in this case. Moreover the house did not catch fire as is expected in an accident involving crackers. The cracker theory was blasted on 7th April at 4pm when post mortem report was released. The report revealed that bomb parts were found and extracted from the bodies of the dead. The doubt that it must have been a bomb blast was further confirmed on the night of 7th April.

The police search of the house had continued the next day & it was at night that a live pipe bomb was discovered under a sofa along with bomb making materials. As per reports this bomb was taken to an open space out of the city & diffused with the help of an anti-bomb squad. "The blast was very powerful and only the concrete structure survived. Everything else in the house was destroyed. Both the bombs were powerful devices. The recovery of the second bomb and other preliminary investigations clearly show that people assembled in the house were preparing the bomb when the first one went off. We will know more about it only after we speak to the injured people," said a police official." It is also reported that after this discovery of the live bomb the houses of the injured in the bomb blast as well as some office bearers of RSS & Bajrang Dal were raided & some documents seized although police have not revealed any of these documents to the press or the public yet. It is also reported that the police has taken 4 people including Rahul Pande into custody. Himansu Panse is said to be the mastermind behind the whole project & Rahul Pande the technical expert.

A police investigating team has been formed under the leadership of Fhattsinh Patil, SP. Srikant Mahajan, Ramesh Bhurawar, Rajendra More, Gopinath Patil, Manikrao Perke & Wamane constitute other members of the team. A 'Bombshodhak & Bombnashak pathak' has also been formed which has been deputed to search live bombs & diffuse them. It has been reported that the workings of some of the Hindutwavadi organizations in the city are being investigated. Suryapratap Gupta IG, Nanded has confirmed that a live pipe bomb was found at the house of Laxman Rajkondwar and that all the accused are connected with Bajrang Dal. He has also gone on record saying Rajkondwar's house was a center for manufacturing of bombs. However the police has maintained silence on the motive for the manufacturing of bombs at Rajkondwar's house, wherefrom they acquired the material for making the bombs and if the perpetrators of the crime had nationwide connections.

Whereas one of the accused Rahul Pande is reported to have disclosed that the accident occurred due to a mistake in setting timings to the bomb, the police is yet to confirm officially if they were indeed engaged in the making of a bomb when it exploded. FIR has been lodged about unlawful and careless storage of crackers in a residential house against Laxman Rajkondwar, the owner of the house. However the most worrying fact that has been revealed is that the live bomb discovered under the sofa is an I.E.D type sophisticated bomb with timer & operated through remote control. A supplier of chemical material to colleges has been questioned in this regard. It is also reported the accused had been arrested during the Ayodhya Ram Mandir episode.

The police after the initial revelation is now keeping mum over the incident & have not revealed much even to the local press. They have instructed the press not to write much about the incident since that would affect the course of police investigation. This is perhaps the reason why practically nothing has appeared in the local newspapers after the first two days of the incident. No local paper has yet written editorial comments upon it. The local BJP MP Mr D.B Patil has given warning to the police not to harass activists of Sangh Parivar over the incident. Local Shiv Sena MLA Anusuatai Khedekar has also issued a similar warning. Bivagiya Sanghachalak Shamrao Jagirdar released a press statement saying that the young men engaged in the bomb making activity at Rajkondewar's house were not connected with RSS. RSS does not believe in such activities & violence is against the ideology of RSS. He also assured the police of all assistance & co-operation but at the same time issued a warning against any atrocities on RSS activists during investigation.

State Bajrangdal chief Shankar Gaikwad said, "My local functionaries have told me that it was not a bomb explosion at all. Some crackers caught fire and resulted in the death of two and serious injuries to some others. But none of the dead was from the Bajrang Dal. State BJP spokesperson Vinod Tawde said: "We have heard nothing from the police so far. In any case, what does the Bajrang Dal's involvement in this, if at all, have to do with us? We are an independent political party with an independent political agenda."

To get a clearer picture of the incident of bomb blast at the house of a RSS man whose son & friends belonging to Bajrang Dal were engaged in bomb making, it would be necessary to give a brief description of the city of Nanded from the point of view of relations between different communities. Nanded is a city with a population of 8 lakhs out of which 1 lakh is Sikh. 2 lakhs Muslims, & the rest Hindus. It is a place of pilgrimage for the Sikhs due to it being the place of Samadhi of Guru Govind Singh. Nanded is in the region of Marathwada, which was part of the Nizam state before 1957 & hence has a history of Hindu-Muslim tension. Nanded since long is a communally sensitive district. It is agriculture based with very little industrialization & a lot of closed sugar mills. There is tension also between the Sikh & the Muslim communities. Recently there has been a case of elopement of a 17 year old Sikh Girl with a Muslim youth who also happened to be the brother of corporator Anwar Javed (NCP), as a result of which the two communities were in a mood of confrontation. The bomb blasts happened during these days of standoff between Sikhs & the Muslims. There is a rumor that is making its rounds in the city of Nanded that these people engaged in bomb making had plans to attack Muslim places of worship in the disguise of Sikhs & that turbans, beards & moustaches to be used during such intended attacks have been seized from the house of an accused.

However we have come to know from the police sources that police has seized maps of a few Mosques situated in nearby districts from the houses of the accused which give credence to the rumors.

This report remains inconclusive due to lack of availability of authentic information from the official sources, although there exist strong indications that deep communal conspiracies were being hatched by the Hindutwavadi forces in the city of Nanded. Implementation of these conspiracies have been temporarily aborted due to the accidental blast of a bomb while in the process of making, at the house of a prominent RSS activist of the city.

Fake encounter in Nagpur 2006?

Fake encounter in Nagpur?

A report on the 'attack' on RSS Headquarters on June 01, 2006

Constituent member organizations:
People's Union for Civil Liberties, Nagpur
Committee for Protection of Democratic Rights, Mumbai
Dharma Nirapeksh Nagarik Manch, Nagpur
Andhra Pradesh Civil Liberties Committee, Hyderabad
Indian Association of People's Lawyers Bahujan Sangharsh Samiti

List of Members
Head of the Team, Justice B G Kolse Patil, Rtd Judge of Mumbai High Court, Convenor, Dr Suresh Khairnar,
Members Dr Anand Teltumde, CPDR, Mumbai; Adv. P Suresh Kumar, Andra Pradesh Civil Liberties Committee, Hyderabad; Mr Ahmed Latif Khan, Civil Liberty Monitoring Committee, Hyderabad; Dr D John Chelladurai, India Peace Centre, Nagpur; Mr Nagesh Choudhury, Bahujan Sangharsh Samiti, Nagpur; Mr Arvind Ghosh, PUCL, Nagpur; Adv. Anil Kale, Indian Assn of People's Lawyers; Adv. Surendra Gadling, Indian Assn of People's Lawyers; Mr Gaffar Shakir, Dharma Nirapeksha Nagarik Manch, Nagpur; Mr Ashish K Ghosh, PUCL, Nagpur; Mr Arvind Deshmukh, Bahujan Sangharsh Samiti, Nagpur; Mr T V Kathane, Nagpur, Bahujan Sangharsh Samiti,Nagpur; Adv. Anand Gajbhiye, IAPL, Nagpur

Introduction
The nation awoke on June 01, 2006 hearing the shocking news of an attempted attack on the RSS headquarters building. It was a respite that the news of police foiling the attempt too came along.

The news of attempted attack on the Head Quarters of the RSS reportedly by fidayeens of a Pak based terrorist group, sent a spine chilling fear in the minds of millions of peace loving people in the country. We all know very well, the potential of such a happening to ignite a trail of tragic clashes among the communities. The peace loving masses heaved a sigh of relief as the leaders of every community promptly condemned the heinous act and appealed to the masses to maintain peace, and peace did prevail. In the next twenty four hours quite a lot of information, almost all the information pertaining to the attackers had been published obviously supplied by the police department to the media.

The narrative of the whole encounter as reported on June 02, 2006, instead of clearing the mystery of the attackers, unfortunately confounded the citizens all the more. The reports were conflicting and left innumerable questions on ground zero situation unanswered.

The foiled attempt and the appreciable tranquility maintained by the masses were a great relief. However the deadly weapon and ammunition with which the 'fidayeens' (as told by the Commissioner of Police) appeared, and the ease with which the police claimed to have liquidated them, suggested that the Police team had a 'cake walk' over the deadly terrorists. The very next day a section of the media aired their doubt over the whole happening (as reported by the Police Commissioner), most of them quoting wide sections of the national community, including senior leaders.

The peace loving social activists and campaigners for communal harmony based in Nagpur were at first relieved by the success of the police over the terrorists. However the confounding report that appeared in the media and the doubts aired by masses and leaders prompted them to read between the lines. Particularly, the 'Islamic' terrorist attempting to attack RSS Head Quarters has a larger implication. It has the potential to push the nation into a communal strife. Scuh a thing should not be allowed to happen in any manner, orchestrated by any group. The confounding report of the 'encounter' therefore requires an honest study.

The above stated social organizations, hence constituted a fact finding team comprised of the above mentioned activists. The team is headed by Mr B G Kolse Patil, retired Judge of Mumbai High Court, and Convened by Dr Suresh Khairnar, a renowned social thinker and activist. The team visited the site of the encounter, spoke to the people residing in the vicinity. The team also visited the RSS Head Quarters and met Mr Shirish Wate, the HQ incharge.

The team went to Government Medical College to meet the doctors who carried out the postmortem. Dr Dhavane, who was present gave elementary information but declined to give details. The team spoke to Dr Vibhawari Dani, Dean, Govt Medical Hospital and College on telephone. The Dean also declined to reveal the postmortem report. It was a classified document, she said.

The team repeatedly sought an appointment with the Commissioner of Police. The CP too declined to meet the team. On the contrary the CP asked the respectable members their credentials; who funded the team, what international connections does the team have and similar questions with apparent intention to intimidate the team from their earnest effort to help the society to know the truth.

The Incident as reported by Mr S P S Yadav, the Commissioner of Police, Nagpur
The Special squad of the City police who were on high alert following specific input from intelligence agency spotted a white Ambassador car moving in a suspicious manner in Lakdi Pul in Mahal area and started tailing it. Two cars, a Tata Sumo and a Qualis were used in the operation. The tailing cars were unmarked and all police personal in it were wearing plain clothes.

When the ambassador car with red beacon atop moved towards RSS Head Quarters, one for the constables in the Tata Sumo casually asked the young occupants about their intentions. Rattled by the enquiry the militants opened fire on the police vehicle even as they tried to get away. In the process they dashed into the barricade near the eastern side of the RSS HQ. The alert cops led by PSI Rajendra Tiwari, PSI Arvind Saraf and PSI JA More replied to the Gunfire. It was their bulletproof jackets that saved police personnel. The terrorists also threw a hand grenade on the police party. But it failed to explode. They threw the grenade without pulling out the pin.

The gun battle lasted about 20 minutes in which the militants fired 76 rounds while the cops retaliated with 63 rounds. The terrorists had three AK-M automatic weapons, 12 hand grenades and 5.6 Kgs of highly explosive materials with them. They also had three spare magazines for their fire arms each carrying 30 rounds. They had hundred and twenty rounds each, said Mr S P S Yadav. Mr Yadav also reported to have said, looking at their preparation and determination to storm RSS HQ at any cost despite heavy police deployment, indicates that it was a 'fidayeen' attack.

Refusing to divulge the exact identity of the three militants, who were in the age group of 20-22 years, Mr Yadav described them as 'Islamic militants.' At this point of time, he added, it is too premature to associate them with any outfit.

Media reports
As per the details received from the police a white Ambassador car MH 20-8979 with a red beacon and three persons on board dressed as police sub-inspectors, was first spotted by the patrolling police party at the central avenue some time before the incident. The car was heading towards Badkas Chowk. As it emerged form Chitaroli, two police vehicles, a Tata Sumo carrying two PSI and five constables and a Toyoto Qualis with 5 PSI got suspicious about the car. The police vehicles hastened the chase of the suspicious ambassador car. At Badkas chowk the ambassador car took a left turn towards Junta chowk and again turned right towards the Sangh building from the Lakdipul side.

Presuming the car might have gone towards Ayachit mandir the police stopped the chase for a while. However when the police jeep came back to the same place during their routine patrol, they noticed the same car in a small alley between Lakdipul and Gajanan Mandir towards the eastern gate of the RSS Head Quarters. The Police vans then closed in on the ambassador car. However, without paying heed to the police patrol the car tried to force its way through the temporary barricade erected 50 meters before the main entrance of the RSS HQ. At this juncture the PSI Tiwari intercepted the ambassador car and enquired as to where it was heading. Instantly thereafter the two ultras who were seated on the rear seats came out of the car with a grenade in their left hand and AK56 rifle in the right hand. One of them lobbed the grenade at the police, but since the pin was not fully removed it failed to explode. Seeing this the ultras opened indiscriminate fire at the police party. In the melee PSI Saraf who just alighted from the police vehicle got hit at his abdomen. However, since he was wearing a bullet proof vest the bullet did not pierce his body. Soon after this police force and the ultras started exchanging fire in which two of the three militants were killed on the spot. The driver of the car then tried to flee towards the Bhauji Daftari School. However he could not escape the bullets from the police and he too was killed on the spot. The entire shoot out went on for just around 15 minutes between 4.00 and 4.15 AM.

The police then informed the control room and the commissioner of Police about the shoot out. The senior police officers immediately reached the spot and shifted at the three ultras to the government medical college where they were declared brought dead. The members of Dautkhani family along with other neighbours woke up at the sound of the firing and one of his family members opened the door of their house to peep outside.

However alert cops told the family members to shut the door and remain inside the house only. It was to prevent the terrorists from taking shelter in the Dautkani house and taking them as hostages. The operation was carried out by the city police successfully without any loss of life other than that of the militants. The press reported on the 2nd June that, all the three terrorists are said to be Pak nationals. Two of them hailed from Lahore and the third from Gujranwala. The police had seized from the place a dairy which contained email addresses in Urdu, a few phone numbers of Lohare and Gujranwala. Rs 45,000 and maps of the city were recovered from the terrorists.

The names of three terrorists are said to be Afsal Ahmed Bhat, Bilal Ahmed Bhat and Mohammed Usman Habib. Loksatta, (Indian Express Group) Nagpur Marathi edition, dated June 03 2006 carried an article containing the following detail. 'Normally the attacks by the terrorists are preplanned meticulously and they seldom fail in their attempt. This being the public opinion, the recent futile attempt by the terrorists on RSS building and the success gained by the police in thwarting the attempt creates suspicion in public mind as well as among RSS people and their rivals.

Though normally terrorists claim the responsibility of the attack, no terrorist group has claimed any responsibility to this attempt. Therefore the question arises, whether they were hardcore Islamic terrorists or just any other newcomers. According to police statement, threat of attack on RSS head quarters loomed large for the last one year and there was security cordon around the building. Yet the attackers seemed to have no idea of any of them, neither did they seem to know the roads leading to RSS building. And no map of the building and its surrounding could be found with them.

During the whole encounter with the police the terrorists got only one chance to lob a grenade and that too did not explode. That not a single policeman was injured by the bullets of the attackers, puts a question mark on the ability of the terrorists. The attackers could bring a car load of guns and bullets, hand grenades, powerful explosives like RDX from places thousands of kilometers away without being detected or checked by any police or civic authorities, is a matter of surprise even in the RSS circles.

The RSS which usually take such attack on them seriously and go for nationwide protest, unusually kept extraordinary silence and the morning shaka at the headquarters went on with more people attending it. It was a surprise even among the cadres of RSS. This also has created among their functionaries doubt over the bona fide of the attackers. However, they speak in a low voice.

' Mahanayak, a Marathi news paper from Mumbai, published a title page news from its special correspondent from Nagpur, with the caption: "Mahanayak's Special Story on the Attack on RSS Head Quarters." The news goes like this: There is a talk among the Nagpur police that, of the 11 police who conducted the encounter, 6 police did not even know how to handle a carbine. Some of them were under demotion on account of departmental disciplinary action, and they were given this 'chance' to prove their 'worthiness.' Sources close to the police circle say, none of the eleven cops had special commando training. The authorities punished two of them, for they extorted from a 'gutka' merchant a huge amount (Rs 3.5 lakhs) five months ago, in the Panchpoli police station area. At the orders of the CP they were shifted to another 'punishment' section. Police inner circle is surprised at the composition of the squad for most of them do not know to handle guns properly.

The reporter gives details of many indisciplines of the eleven police personals and wonders how and on what basis they were selected for Special Squad to handle such an important assignment in the RSS HQ.

Observations of the fact team
1. When the police had prior information about possible attack on RSS Head Quarters and the police were prepared, as stated by the Commissioner of Police (CP), to handle possible attack, why did they allow the attackers to go close to the RSS HQ? Why did the Police not stop them at first sight?

2. We hear from the residents, that the police had a kind of rehearsal to the 'encounter' few days back on the same spot. Police even fired in the air on the occasion, they claim. And when the actual encounter took place, these residents said, they first thought that it was yet another demonstration. Why did the police take a demo a few days ago?

3. The CP has said, "when the ambassador car with red beacon atop moved towards RSS HQ, one of the constables in the Tata Sumo casually asked the young occupants about their intentions. Rattled by the inquiry the militants opened fire on the police vehicle even as they tried to get away." For the constable to ask casually, either he must have brought his car (the police vehicle) side by side to the terrorist vehicle or he (the constable) must have come by foot close to terrorist vehicle (and asked them). In either case the constable must have been exposed to the terrorist attack at close quarter. How did the constable escape unhurt? The narration of the incident doesn't have any detail to clarify this.

4. There is no eyewitness to the whole happening. The encounter took place according to the police at 4.15 AM. The bodies of the assailants were removed even before the press reporters (who were the first people other than the Police) reached the spot, close to 5.00 AM. Why this hurry?

5. Day one media report says, Deputy Commissioner Mr Prabhat Kumar was in the patrolling team and he smelled foul and started tailing it in their unmarked blue Tata Sumo. Why did the CP not bring him (Mr P Kumar) in his (CP) narration of the encounter? Why did CP hide the DCP?

6. Another report says that the patrolling police that tailed the ambassador at one point "presumed the car might have gone towards Ayachit mandir the police stopped the chase for a while. However when the police jeep came back to the same place during their routine patrol, they noticed the same car in a small alley between Lakdipul and Gajanand Mandir towards the eastern gate of the RSS Head Quarters. As the point where the police missed the ambassador car and the place where they saw them again are the same small alley, do the police mean to say that the attackers were waiting over there until then?

7. It is said that the attackers' car tried to force its way through the barricade. The said barricade was installed a couple of weeks before June 01 2006, in the aftermath of weapon seizure from antisocial elements in the State. When the attackers came where were the sentries posted at the barricade? They must have been the first one to stop the terrorists or get attacked by the terrorists. Where were they?

8. The exchange of fire took place for twenty minutes, it was reported. Can anyone explain how the police disabled the terrorists from using the dozen hand grenades and the 360 rounds of bullets?

9. That the terrorists had 12 hand grenade, 360 rounds of bullets, 5.6 Kgs of highly explosive material which was later stated to be RDX, and they battled for twenty minutes 'hopelessly' not using any of them, is a narration that fails to convince common sense.

10. It was reported that the police recovered from the terrorists' vehicle a sealed case containing 12 hand grenades. The terrorists coming on a deadly mission carrying their munitions in sealed cases does not comply the logic of terrorist attack. They did not even open them when they were fighting for 20 minutes in a losing battle makes the narration all the more unconvincing.

11. That the terrorists, reported to be 'fidayeen' who chose to travel on white ambassador car with red beacon atop, not knowing what is the official protocol but chose to wear PSI dress, does not comply with the statement of the CP that the terrorists were a trained fidayeens.

12. The reported information that the police recovered wet underwear and soaked bathing soap from the white ambassador car suggests that they could not have been 'terrorists' on a mission involving their very life.

13. The police declared them as 'Islamic' terrorist and Pak based 'fidayeens'. The stated seizure of a diary containing all their names and their own telephone numbers sounds farce. Usually we do not write our own telephone numbers in our dairy. Terrorists of deadly mission carrying a dairy with their own identities when they were on an attack, do not appeal common sense.

14. Even if the police had found a dairy belonging to the attackers, how did they decipher the code names and codified messages in so short a time that in less than 10 hours the CP could reveal their identity as 'Islamic' terrorist and 'fidayeens'? (the history of terrorist attack tells clearly that the terrorists do not carry written documents. If they have to write anything they choose to write in codes and false names.)

15. What authentication did the police possess to finally declare them as Muslims and bury them according to Islamic rituals? What was the hurry to bury the dead bodies of the terrorists without establishing their identity?

16. Few holes on the walls (opposite to Bharat Mahila Vidyalay) are, said by the CID official present at the site, as bullet marks. Two of the six marks found to be marks of bullets fired from right across, at 90 degrees. One bullet mark, as marked by the police on the Bharat Mahila Vidyalay wall too clearly indicates that the bullet was fired at 90 degrees. Were the police and their vehicle come side by side the terrorists? It was amusing, that the police officer present at the time of the team's visit to the spot, told that bullets fired by the policemen down the lane from behind the terrorist vehicle possibly took an aerial curve and hit the wall at 90 degree.

17. There is hardly any mark of terrorist bullets on the other side, except on the Police vehicle.

18. The blue Tata Sumo vehicle that was tailing behind the terrorist vehicle had six bullet marks. Two of them were at least apparently pistol bullet marks. The police report did not mention terrorists having used pistols. How did pistol bullet marks appear on the police vehicle?

19. The terrorists were reported to have fired from AK-M automatic guns. The bullet marks on the blue Tata Sumo of the police bear bullet marks that are all single shot marks. There is no series of bullet marks (which is expected if the opponents were using automatic guns) that raises the doubt over nature of the exchange of fire.

20. One bullet hole was found (in the police blue Tata Sumo vehicle) on the right side front door from inside. The point of hit was almost at the hip of the driver. Had the driver been on his seat he should have been hit. There was no such report. It is clear that the driver was not in the seat at the time of firing. We found bullet marks on the same police vehicle hit from three angles on the left side of the vehicle. Three bullets were 45 degrees from behind, two bullets 90 degrees on the left and one bullet 130 degree further that hit just below the front windshield. The question is, if the vehicle is not on the move during the attack, (as the bullet did not hit the driver), then how did the bullet mark appear from three angles? This question assumes significance as it was not possible for the terrorists to move to such wide range and fire from all three angles, for they were caught in their vehicle that was trapped in a narrow alley and they were immobilized.

21. Mr S P S Yadav, Commissioner of Police is reported to have said, "Looking at their preparation and determination to storm RSS HQ at any cost despite heavy police deployment, indicates that it was a 'fidayeen' attack." This conclusion of the CP amounts to be hasty in his decision; or the terrorists were in his hands prior to the encounter, for him to know about them in detail.

22. On the site of the encounter was parked a white Maruti Omni car at the premises of Mr Jopat, the compound wall being fenced by barbed wire. As the house is the first one in the lane (in front of which raised the barricade) and the attackers were inside the lane, if the police wanted to target the attackers, they should have gone some where behind this Maruti Omni car. When there was over 140 rounds of fire, there is not a single bullet mark on the vehicle.

This creates strong doubts over the nature of reported encounter.

Recommendations
The official version of events raises scores of doubts. The team wanted simple clarifications from the Commissioner of Police, Nagpur and approached him continuously for five days. That the CP persistently declined to meet the team and answer these simple queries, reveal his unwillingness / inability to face these fair queries.

It also suggests that he chose to hide certain facts. And this lead the team to question the veracity of the Commissioner of Police's narration of the encounter. The Cock and Bull story of the encounter thus compels the team to infer that the encounter appears to be fake and requires, in the interest of the nation, a fair probing.

The team therefore, calls upon the Central government to appoint a judicial enquiry committee headed by a retired judge of the Supreme Court and probe the whole episode.

Ref: http://www.pucl.org/Topics/Religion-communalism/2006/nagpur-rss.htm

RSS : The World's Largest Terrorist Organization?

What makes one or an organization terrorist?

American Heritage Dictionary: The unlawful use or threatened use of force or violence by a person or an organized group against people or property with the intention of intimidating or coercing societies or governments, often for ideological or political reasons.

Does the Sanghparivar have any of these qualities in its work to make it not to declare a terrorist organization?

An American research centre has placed our ultra-nationalist Rashtrya Swayamsewak Sangh (RSS) on its terrorist list. The East Virginia-based Terrorism Research Center (TRC) is closely connected to the American government and many of its directors and researchers have closely worked with US administrations and have taken part in research and planning for the US administration.

In the list of ?? in India, the TRC has placed RSS under no. 21. Here is the link as it appeared on 9 September 2004 on the group?s website under the caption ?Known Terrorist Groups Operating in India?.

http://www.terrorism.com/modules.php?op=modload&name=Countries&file=index&view=113


RSS

The RSS was founded in 1925 by the Maratha Brahmin Keshav Baliram Hegdewar o­n the Aryan Vaishnava Holy day of Vijaya Dashami (the 10th day of the moon) when the Aryan invader Rama destroyed the Dravidian Empire of Lanka [ Sangh ]. This was done to symbolise its inherent anti-Sudra nature. Its organisation is highly skewed, with the Sar Sangh Chalak (supreme dictator) at the top [ Roots ]. This person can o­nly be a Brahmin.

RSS militia is organised around local cells or `shakas' where weapons are distributed to its hardcore members, who are drilled in a vigorous program of harsh discipline. RSS converted hindu temples serve as repositories of weapons as well as centers of dissemination of its racist ideology of Aryan supremacy. RSS cadre graduate to the BJP.

VHP (Vishwa Hindu Parishad)

The council was established o­n August 29, 1964 in Bombay, Maharastra [ Biju ] with a political objective of establishing the supremacy of Hinduism all over the world. It obtains funds and recruits from Aryan Hindus all across the globe, especially from the US, UK and Canada and has grown to become the main fund-raising agency of Brahmanist Fundamentalism. The council was instrumental in the demolition of the holiest Islamic shrine in Oudh, the Babri Masjid at Ayodhya and has organised several massacres of Muslims and Christians. It is in the forefront in the call for a Hindu Rashtra, a Hindu State ethnically cleansed of its non-Aryan populations.

Bajrang Dal ( Party of Monkey God called Hanuman.)

The militant wing of the VHP, it was formed "to counter `Sikh militancy' " during the Sikh Genocide of 1983-84 [ Bajrang ]. Created with the objective of the eradication of Sikhs which it has termed "Muslims in disguise", its cadres fought alongside Congress-backed Hindutva militias during the massacre of 200,000 Sikhs under Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi. Recruits carry a " knife-like trident to be slung across the shoulder - an answer to the Sikh kirpan " [ Bajrang ]. later it has subsequently expanded its targets to include Muslims and Christians as well.

ABVP

This front comprises students of Hindu religious schools (vidyalayas). It has expanded its base by infiltration into `secular' universities. Its higher-ranking cadres are well-equipped with weaponry; they often organise communal campus disturbances against Christians, Muslims, Sikhs, Buddhists and Jains. Most of its members graduate to become hardcore RSS and VHP militants.

 

Ref : http://sanghparivar.blogspot.com/

The Hashimpura massacre 1987

So what about justice for 42 Muslims killed in Hashimpura by the PAC - 22 years ago?
Akash Bisht Delhi

Twenty two years have passed since 42 innocent Muslims from Hashimpura-Malliana locality in Meerut were packed in a truck, shot dead and their bodies disposed of at Hindon canal by the Provincial Armed Constabulary (PAC), with a communal streak. The friends and families of the victims have since been running pillar to post in search of justice denied to them by successive governments and the judicial system. The cold-blooded massacre has long been erased from public memory, except for a bunch of lawyers, activists and journalists who have kept the hope for justice alive amongst the families of survivors and victims. While the perpetrators walk free with gallantry awards and promotions, family members still recount the night of horror that changed their lives forever. 

After the Rajiv Gandhi government opened the Babri Masjid gates in 1987 allowing Hindus to worship there, riots broke out in Meerut and elsewhere. On May 24, 1987, several PAC men, known for their anti-minority communal stance, came to Hashimpura and randomly picked up 50 Muslim men, mostly weavers and labourers, and huddled them in a truck. The truck was then taken to Murad Nagar near Ghaziabad where some men were shot dead in cold blood and their bodies disposed of in the Upper Ganges Canal. The truck was then driven to Hindon Canal where the PAC shot several others. FIRs were filed by the survivors of the two massacres at two different police stations. Two men who were shot, and left for dead, miraculously survived. They are the eyewitnesses.

After immense pressure from media and civil society, the Congress government in UP ordered a Crime Branch Central Investigation Department (CBCID) inquiry. In 1988, the CBCID identified 13 of the 19 bodies and filed a chargesheet against 19 PAC personnel. The accused were government employees, so approval from the state government was needed to prosecute them. The chief judicial magistrate issued summons to the 19 PAC personnel. Undeterred, the accused didn't appear in the court. Later, six bailable and 17 unbailable warrants were issued against them, but to no avail.  

The Supreme Court intervened and forced the accused to surrender. They soon got bail from the Ghaziabad district judge who said they are 'government servants' so they will not abscond. Later, on the victims' plea, the case was shifted from Ghaziabad to New Delhi, but the case didn't make any headway as the Congress and Janta Dal governments in UP delayed the appointment of a special public prosecutor. Additionally, the recommendations of Justice CD Parekh Commission on Meerut riots were rejected by the Kalyan Singh government. Even after 14 years, the case did not make any headway and the accused roamed free.

Exactly 19 years after the Hashimpura massacare, the Tis Hazari court in Delhi framed charges of murder, conspiracy to murder, attempt to murder, tampering with evidence etc., under various sections of the IPC. Most surprisingly, the prosecution evidence was not recorded though the witness/survivor Zulfikar Nasir was present in the court as the government failed to produce the case properly. Later, the court recorded the testimony of survivors, Zulfikar and Mohd Naeem, and announced a compensation package of Rs 4,60,000 for the 43 men killed by the PAC.

Twenty years after the massacre, in 2007, the victims and their relatives filed 615 RTI applications seeking information related to the killings. The state information commission revealed that these killings find no mention in their Annual Confidential Reports (ACRs). Instead, the ACRs of the accused had positive remarks about their honesty and good conduct. Even a CID enquiry didn't hamper their career growth.

The victims of Hashimpura still await justice, for the day when the perpetrators of this cold blooded crime will be booked. One of the survivors had told Hardnews earlier, "My parents died waiting for justice and I might also die waiting for justice; but I will fight till my last breath so that I can show my face to my brother when I meet him in heaven."

Hashimpura is not the only incident in the black history of independent India where Muslims (and innocent citizens of other communities) were brutally butchered and denied justice for decades. Post independent Indian history is known for many carnages and pogroms, with almost always, not an iota of justice.

 

Ref: http://www.hardnewsmedia.com/2010/02/3443 

Richest Temples, Poorest Worshippers

"  If in this world, there were none to beg, would there be any glory for the rich? – Tirukkural 101 Ch.106. 1059″

Recently, Hindutva party leader and  Karnataka tourism minister Gali Janardhan Reddy gifted the Balaji Lord with a 16-kg diamond-studded crown priced at Rs 45 crore!.  In the last 5 years,  Bellary Reddy brothers  generated 4,000 crore of profit before tax from the iron-ore business in Bellary and delivered 1 % commission to their favourite God!   This is the eighth and the largest crown  presented to the Hindu God by dirty money makers. The current estimate of gold ornaments with this Hindu Temple exceed 15 tons and valued at more than $7 billion.   Lately,  one Hindu priest  of this temple was arrested by police for  mortgaging  jewellery of worth Rs nine lakh.

Interestingly, a case against Janardhan Reddy  for destruction of the 200-year-old Sugalamma Devi Hindu Temple located in the mining zone was dropped drown by Hindutva government in Karnataka state. When  RSS cannot save their own gods from these  Hindu mafia dons,  how can they protect Hindu temples from Muslim invaders?

In the past,  Reddy brothers coughed up nearly Rs 200 crores from public through their finance business in 1999 — Gali Karunakar Reddy, 47, minister for revenue, Gali Janardhan Reddy, 42, minister for tourism and infrastructure, and Gali Somashekhar Reddy, 41, a BJP MLA are the sons of a former police constable who made billions by  stealing state owned minerals with the support of Hindutva politicians.

Religious taboos are the main marketing tools of RSS aka  Rumour Spreading Society. RSS  can  sell their rotten hindutva as long as  illiterate idiots are a majority in India.   Crooked RSS  leaders deny universal education to India's poor  in order to flourish the religious taboos.  For eg,  RSS promote  belief in the snakes' divine powers, and prohibits  harming the deadly reptiles like Cobras.  But, according to estimates cited by the World Health Organization, serpent attacks kill as many as 50,000 Indians each year.

The Bellary Reddy brothers  cannot be intimidated by  India's flawed legal system.  The director board of   the renamed EAST INDIA COMPANY aka India Inc is overloaded with  billionaires who generously fund hindutva mafia.  Mining Barons like Anil Agarwal of VEDANTA and Bellary REDDY brothers are engaged in rapid acquisition  of tribal lands and its rich resources of this poor nation.  In return, their  personal greed is  supported  by world's largest terrorist organization, RSS.  Pro Hindutva media men like  Rajeev Chandrashekhar ( the Indian partner of Rupert Mudroch) and   Subhash chandra of ZEE TV own influential part of Indian media. They don't have any commitment to the poor of this country. They will continue to find fault with displaced tribals, dalits and minorities.  Truly, India Inc own this nation.

Some Temple Facts:

• Balaji, Lord of Seven Hills, Andra Pradesh is the richest deity in the world. In the 9 days of Navaratri, it got around Rs 12.05 crore. The facilitators of Balaji Temple, Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanam (TTD), has more than Rs 1,000 crore in fixed deposits in various banks.  The total annual income of Balaji temple trust is Rs 600 crore, the budget outlay for the year 2008-09 was Rs 1,925 crore.  20 lakh pilgrims visit Balaji temple per year. It receives around Rs 300 crore , 350 kg Gold & 500 kg Silver.   The East India Company made around 25,000 pounds every year from the Tirupati temple in the mid-1750 s.

• Mata Vaishno Devi, Jammu is the second most visited Hindu temple in India. Daily income is Rs 40 crore, Annual income: Rs 500 crore

• Over 1 lakh devotees visit Guruvayur Krishna temple in Kerala, Rs 125 crore in fixed deposits, annual income: Rs 2.5 crore

• The 250-year-old Siddhivinayak Temple, Mumbai has an annual income of Rs 46 crore, Rs 125 crore in fixed deposits. Rich donors get privilege to Siddhivinayak Temple, Mumbai. They can buy a gold or platinum card, priced from Rs 1 lakh to Rs 6 lakh.

( 1 crore is equal to 10 million.   1 million USD  is roughly around 4.7 crore INR )

Note:

According to WFP, India accounts around 50% of the world's hungry. Around six out of 10 Indians live in the countryside, where abject poverty is widespread. 34.7 % of the Indian population lives with an income below $ 1 a day and 79.9 % below $ 2 a day.

In India, wealth of 36 families amounts to $ 191 billion, which is one-fourth of India's GDP. In other words, 35 elite Hindu families own quarter of India's GDP by leaving 85 % ordinary Hindus as poor! Corruption in India indirectly kills more than 8,000 people a day by diverting money from food programs to the pockets of crooked officials, who are mostly from upper caste hindus.  Indian bureaucracy ranked worst in Asia: Hong Kong-based Political & Economic Risk Consultancy.

The dominant group of Hindu nationalists  come from the three upper castes ( Brahmins, Kshatriyas, and Vaishyas ) that constitute only 10 per cent of the total Indian population. But, they claim perhaps 80 % of the jobs in the new economy, in sectors such as software, biotechnology, and hotel management. Forbes list of 10 wealthiest CEOs in the world listed 4 upper caste Indians, yet almost half of India lives on less than a dollar a day.  India's 100 richest people have a combined net worth of 276 billion U.S. dollars, which was almost a quarter of the country's Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

Hawala transactions in India range between $13 billion and $17 billion annually ( US state department report) India lost over $115 billion during 2002 and 2006 due to hawala, more than India's combined budget for health, education & internal security. (GFI report).  Corrupted Indian authorities  will never trace Naresh Jain, the world's largest money launderer. He is accused of running a hawala network of over Rs5,000 crore.

The fact is that hindutva capitalism is most unfair system where the majority of the Indians has to suffer so that the bullys like Bellary brothers have their whole cake at expense of everyone else!

"The whole business of Hindutva and its nationalism is a poison in the body politic of India. We have to accept that the poison has been injected and it will take a lot to purge it," Arundhati Roy

Hindutva's Violent History

ANGANA CHATTERJI Anthropologist HINDUTVA'S PRODUCTION of culture and nation is often marked by savagery. On 23 August 2008, Lakshmanananda Saraswati, Orissa's Hindu nationalist icon, was murdered with four disciples in Jalespeta in Kandhamal district. State authorities alleged the attackers to be Maoists (and a group has subsequently claimed the murder). But the Sangh Parviar held the Christian community responsible, even though there is no evidence or history to suggest the armed mobilisation of Christian groups in Orissa. After the murder, the All India Christian Council stated: "The Christian community in India abhors violence, condemns all acts of terrorism, and opposes groups of people taking the law into their own hands". Gouri Prasad Rath, General Secretary, VHPOrissa, stated: "Christians have killed Swamiji. We will give a befitting reply. We would be forced to opt for violent protests if action is not taken against the killers". Following which, violence engulfed the district. Churches and Christian houses razed to the ground, frightened Christians hiding in the jungles or in relief camps. Officials record the death toll at 13, local leaders at 20, while the Asian Centre for Human Rights noted 50. The Sangh's history in postcolonial Orissa is long and violent. Virulent Hindutva campaigns against minority groups reverberated in Rourkela in 1964, Cuttack in 1968 and 1992, Bhadrak in 1986 and 1991, Soro in 1991. The Kandhamal riots were not unforeseen. Since 2000, the Sangh has been strengthened by the Bharatiya Janata Party's coalition government with the Biju Janata Dal. In October 2002, a Shiv Sena unit in Balasore district declared the formation of the first Hindu 'suicide squad'. In March 2006, Rath stated that the "VHP believes that the security measures initiated by the Government [for protection of Hindus] are not adequate and hence Hindu society has taken the responsibility for it." The VHP has 1,25,000 primary workers in Orissa. The RSS operates 6,000 shakhas with a 1,50,000 plus cadre. The Bajrang Dal has 50,000 activists working in 200 akharas. BJP workers number above 4,50,000. BJP Mohila Morcha, Durga Vahini (7,000 outfits in 117 sites), and Rashtriya Sevika Samiti (80 centres) are three major Sangh women's organisations. BJP Yuva Morcha, Youth Wing, Adivasi Morcha and Mohila Morcha have a prominent base. Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh manages 171 trade unions with a cadre of 1,82,000. The 30,000-strong Bharatiya Kisan Sangh functions in 100 blocks. The Sangh also operates various trusts and branches of national and international institutions to aid fundraising, including Friends of Tribal Society, Samarpan Charitable Trust, Sookruti, Yasodha Sadan, and Odisha International Centre. Sectarian development and education are carried out by Ekal Vidyalayas, Vanavasi Kalyan Ashrams/Parishads (VKAs), Vivekananda Kendras, Shiksha Vikas Samitis and Sewa Bharatis — cementing the brickwork for hate and civil polarisation. This massive mobilisation has erupted in ugly incidents against both Christians and Muslims. In 1998, 5,000 Sangh activists allegedly attacked the Christian dominated Ramgiri-Udaygiri villages in Gajapati district, setting fire to 92 homes, a church, police station, and several government vehicles. Earlier, Sangh activists allegedly entered the local jail forcibly and burned two Christian prisoners to death. In 1999, Graham Staines, 58, an Australian missionary and his 10- and six-year-old sons were torched in Manoharpur village in Keonjhar. A Catholic nun, Jacqueline Mary was gangraped by men in Mayurbhanj and Arul Das, a Catholic priest, was murdered in Jamabani, Mayurbhanj, followed by the destruction of churches in Kandhamal. In 2002, the VHP converted 5,000 people to Hinduism. In 2003, the VKA organised a 15,000- member rally in Bhubaneswar, propagating that Adivasi (and Dalit) converts to Christianity be denied affirmative action. In 2004, seven women and a male pastor were forcibly tonsured in Kilipal, Jagatsinghpur district, and a social and economic boycott was imposed against them. A Catholic church was vandalised and the community targeted in Raikia. Change the cast, the story is still the same. 1998: A truck transporting cattle owned by a Muslim was looted and burned, the driver's aide beaten to death in Keonjhar district. 1999: Shiekh Rehman, a Muslim clothes merchant, was mutilated and burned to death in a public execution at the weekly market in Mayurbhanj. 2001: In Pitaipura village, Jagatsinghpur, Hindu communalists attempted to orchestrate a land-grab connected to a Muslim graveyard. On November 20, 2001, around 3,000 Hindu activists from nearby villages rioted. Muslim houses were torched, Muslim women were ill-treated, their property, including goats and other animals, stolen. 2005: In Kendrapara, a contractor was shot on Govari Embankment Road, supposedly by members of a Muslim gang. Sangh groups claimed the shooting was part of a gang war associated with Islamic extremism and called for a 12hour bandh. Hindu organisations are alleged to have looted and set Muslim shops on fire. It is Saraswati who pioneered the Hinduisation of Kandhamal since 1969. Activists targeted Adivasis, Dalits, Christians and Muslims through socio-economic boycotts and forced conversions (named 're'conversion, presupposing Adivasis and Dalits as 'originally' Hindus). Kandhamal first witnessed Hindutva violence in 1986. The VKAs, instated in 1987, worked to Hinduise Kondh and Kui Adivasis and polarise relations between them and Pana Dalit Christians. Kandhamal remains socio-economically vulnerable, a large percentage of its population living in poverty. Approximately 90 percent of Dalits are landless. A majority of Christians are landless or marginal landholders. Hindutva ideologues say Dalits have acquired economic benefits, augmented by Christianisation. This is not borne out in reality. In October 2005, converting 200 Bonda Adivasi Christians to Hinduism in Malkangiri, Saraswati said: "How will we… make India a completely Hindu country? The feeling of Hindutva should come within the hearts and minds of all the people." In April 2006, celebrating RSS architect Golwalkar's centenary, Saraswati presided over seven yagnas attended by 30,000 Adivasis. In September 2007, supporting the VHP's statewide road-rail blockade against the supposed destruction of the mythic 'Ram Setu', Saraswati conducted a Ram Dhanu Rath Yatra to mobilise Adivasis. In 2008, Hindutva discourse named Christians as 'conversion terrorists'. But the number of such conversions is highly inflated. They claim there are rampant and forced conversions in Phulbani-Kandhamal. But the Christian population in Kandhamal is 1,17,950 while Hindus number 5,27,757. Orissa Christians numbered 8,97,861 in the 2001 census — only 2.4 percent of the state's population. Yet, Christian conversions are storied as debilitating to the majority status of Hindus while Muslims are seen as 'infiltrating' from Bangladesh, dislocating the 'Oriya (and Indian) nation'. The right to religious conversion is constitutionally authorised. Historically, conversions from Hinduism to Christianity or Islam have been a way to escape caste oppression and social stigma for Adivasis and Dalits. In February 2006, the VHP called for a law banning (non- Hindu) religious conversions. In June 2008, it urged that religious conversion be decreed a 'heinous crime' across India. 'Reconversion' strategies of the Sangh appear to be shifting in Orissa. The Sangh reportedly proposed to 'reconvert' 10,000 Christians in 2007. But fewer public conversion ceremonies were held in 2007 than in 2004- 2006. Converting politicised Adivasi and Dalit Christians to Hinduism is proving difficult. The Sangh has instead increased its emphasis on the Hinduisation of Adivasis through their participation in Hindu rituals, which, in effect, 'convert' Adivasis by assuming that they are Hindu. The draconian Orissa Freedom of Religion Act (OFRA), 1967, must be repealed. There are enough provisions under the Indian Penal Code to prevent and prohibit conversions under duress. But consenting converts to Christianity are repeatedly charged under OFRA, while Hindutva perpetrators of forcible conversions are not. The Sangh contends that 'reconversion' to Hinduism through its 'Ghar Vapasi' (homecoming) campaign is not conversion but return to Hinduism, the 'original' faith. This allows them to dispense with the procedures under OFRA. The Orissa Prevention of Cow Slaughter Act, 1960 should also be repealed. It is utilised to target livelihood practices of economically disenfranchised groups, Adivasis, Dalits, Muslims, who engage in cattle trade and cow slaughter. In fact, a CBI investigation into the activities of the VHP, RSS and Bajrang Dal is crucial as per the provisions of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967. Groups such as the VHP and VKA are registered as cultural and charitable organisations but their work is political in nature. They should be audited and recognised as political organisations, and their charitable status and privileges reviewed. The state and central government's refusal to restrain Hindu militias evidences their linkage with Hindutva (BJP), soft Hindutva (Congress), and the capitulation of civil society to Hindu majoritarianism. How would the nation have reacted if groups with affiliation other than than militant Hinduism executed riot after riot: Calcutta 1946, Kota 1953, Rourkela 1964, Ranchi 1967, Ahmedabad 1969, Bhiwandi 1970, Aligarh 1978, Jamshedpur 1979, Moradabad 1980, Meerut 1982, Hyderabad 1983, Assam 1983, Delhi 1984, Bhagalpur 1989, Bhadrak 1991, Ayodhya 1992, Mumbai 1992, Gujarat 2002, Marad 2003, Jammu 2008? The BJD-BJP government has repeatedly failed to honour the constitutional mandate separating religion from state. In 2005-06, Advocate Mihir Desai and I convened the Indian People's Tribunal on Communalism in Orissa, led by Retired Kerala Chief Justice KK Usha. The Tribunal's findings detailed the formidable mobilisation by majoritarian communalist organisations, including in Kandhamal, and the Sangh's visible presence in 25 of 30 districts. The report did not invoke any response from the state or central government. In January 2000, The Asian Age reported: "'One village, one shakha' is the new slogan of the RSS as it aims to saffronise the entire Gujarat state by 2005." Then ensued the genocide of March 2002. In 2003, Subash Chouhan, then Bajrang Dal state convener, stated: "Orissa is the second Hindu Rajya (to Gujarat)." We all know what has happened in Kandhamal December 2007, and again now. The communal situation in Orissa is dire. State and civil society resistance to Hindutva's ritual and catalytic abuse cannot wait. The writer is associate professor of anthropology at California Institute of Integral Studies and author of a forthcoming book: Violent Gods: Hindu Nationalism in India's Present, Narratives from Orissa

From Tehelka Magazine, Vol 5, Issue 36, Dated Sept 13, 2008

Hindu terror network is now widespread

KPS Raghuvanshi was the ATS chief during the Nanded blasts of 2006 and had filed a chargesheet naming organisations like the VHP, RSS and Bajrang Dal. He discusses the new face of terror with RANA AYYUB, calling it a serious threat that needs to be firmly dealt with. The leads that have come in after the interrogation of the accused in the Malegaon blasts are similar to what came out of the investigations into the 2006 Nanded blasts. Yes, in most of the aspects, mainly the same outfits are involved. From the investigation into the Nanded blasts, we had got leads into the involvement of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad and the Bajrang Dal as being behind the blasts that happened in Nanded, Parbhani and Purna. The ATS chargesheet had at that point of time spoken of training camps organised at Pune for making pipe bombs and they were taught by Mithun Chakraborty, a trainer. Was Mithun Chakraborty an army man? That's not clear. Do you detect a common modus operandi in both the Malegaon blasts and the Nanded blasts? Is there a pattern since both blasts were conducted outside mosques? Not much can be said about the modus operandi, although we have seen that bikes have been a favourite with these terrorists and were used in the blasts at Parbhani, Purna and also now in the Malegaon blasts. Unlike the last time though, these people have used RDX. They are using much more sophisticated weapons and techniques than what they used the last time. But yes, the pattern has been the same, and so has been the target, the Muslims. The narco reports as well as the ATS chargesheet, which was based on these tests, spoke of the involvement of top leaders from the VHP and the Bajrang Dal but no action was taken against them. Do you think the Malegaon blasts could have been averted? I don't know if the Malegaon blasts would have been averted, other people could also have done it. The terror network is widespread and those involved in the Malegaon blasts are different people. But the ATS had clearly named people from the Hindu organisations in its chargesheet. It was up to the CBI, which had taken over the case, to handle it. Would you then say that the CBI displayed a lack of will in nailing the terror groups? I don't think I can say that, but we had done our job, and it was left to other agencies to take action. But the ATS had also withdrawn cases against 11 of the accused and withdrew its cases against most of them, including Laxman Rajkondwar, who was a key person and had given his house for the preparation of bombs? We had not found adequate evidence against them and could not nail a person just because his house was used in a terror operation. You had also clearly mentioned the involvement of right-wing outfits like the RSS in the Nanded blasts. Would you say right-wing terror took birth in 2006? No, it wasn't their first attempt at terror. The Parbhani and Purna blasts had happened earlier. We can't say that the Nanded blasts were the first attempt. Long planning seems to have gone into it. You can't rule out the possibility of their involvement in other blasts that have happened in the country. The names of various saffron outfits like the Hindu Raksha Samiti, Hindu Jagran Manch, and Sanatan Sanstha have been coming out in various cases of terror. Does this mean the emergence of ultra right-wing terror? There certainly is a threat from Hindu terrorist organisations and it has been proved that 'saffron' terror is emerging and in a big way. We may not be in a position to nail them, but these organisations are developing a terror module which needs to be checked. The role of ex-army men and the Bhonsla Military School also came up in the 2006 investigations. Does the involvement of army men in the blasts not point to a serious trend? There was mention of an army officer by the accused as being their trainer, but we could not get any lead on it. But yes, it certainly is a serious trend. Finally, with so much evidence against the Bajrang Dal and the VHP, would it be right to call them terror outfits? I am not at liberty to say that but yes, they are involved in terror acts that are extremely serious and need to be dealt with through commitment and will.

From Tehelka Magazine, Vol 5, Issue 45, Dated Nov 15, 2008