Category: Brahmin Terrorism in Rajasthan
RSS leader involved in Ajmer blast conspiracy: Police
Image via Wikipedia
Jaipur, Oct 23 (IANS): A senior Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) leader was present when the conspiracy to carry out a blast at the shrine of Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti in Ajmer was hatched, according to the charge-sheet filed in the case.
However, the RSS leader Indresh Kumar has not been named as accused in the charge-sheet filed by the Rajasthan Police’s Anti-Terrorist Squad in an Ajmer court Friday.
Holding supporters of radical Hindu group Abhinav Bharat responsible for the Oct 11, 2007 blast, in which three people were killed and 30 injured, the ATS has charged Devendra Gupta, Lokesh Sharma, Chander Shekhar Lave, Sandeep Dange and Ramji Kalsangre with murder, attempt to murder, conspiracy, harming or defiling place of worship and other crimes.
Gupta, Sharma and Lave are in judicial custody while Dange and Kalsangre are absconding.
Another accused, Sunil Joshi, died during the course of investigation.
The 806-page charge sheet says that the conspiracy for the bomb blast was hatched during a meeting held in room number 26 of Gujarati Samaj Guesthouse situated near MI Road in Jaipur Oct 21, 2005. The accused had checked in under false names.
According to the charge sheet, Indresh Kumar was present at the secret meeting in which six other functionaries of the outfit were also present.
‘Indresh suggested that they attach themselves to some religious organisation so that they can pass themselves off as pilgrims,’ the charge-sheet says.
Swami Asinanand of Abhinav Bharat Sangthan and Sadhvi Pragya of Jai Vande Matram Sangthan were also present in the meeting where not only was the conspiracy hatched but different tasks were also assigned to some of the conspirators, the ATS said.
‘Indresh has so far not been made an accused in the case as further investigation are required, but he seems to be a conspirator,’ a source in the ATS said.
According to the ATS, the bombs were made in Indore and the area where the bombs were to be planted were identified in a meeting held in Dang area of Gujarat between Feb 11 and 13, 2007.
RSS leader chargesheeted for Ajmer Blast
NDTV Correspondent, Updated: October 23, 2010 18:53 IST
Jaipur: The Rajasthan ATS on Friday filed a charge sheet against five 2007 Ajmer blast accused, accusing them of murder and defiling a place of worship.
A senior RSS leader, Indresh Kumar, is among those named in the charge sheet, which says the blast at the Ajmer Dargah three years ago was the result of an elaborate conspiracy hatched by a group of Hindu radicals.
The chargesheet says:
- Indresh took part in a meeting in Jaipur on October 31, 2005 with seven others
- In the meeting he exhorted members to do radical acts
- Indresh said being part of religious organisations will help them avoid suspicion and accomplish their mission
- Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur, an accused in the Malegaon blast case, was also present in that meeting.
But the man in the eye of the storm, Indresh Kumar, claims he’s being framed. “It is a political conspiracy,” he told NDTV.
The court fixed October 26 for arguments on the charge sheet.
Investigation and Media’s role in Terrorism: Indore, Hindutva hardliners’ haven
The arrest of right-wing militants in connection with the blast in Ajmer Dargah isn’t surprising and is just another in the series of arrests of members of organisations ranging from Abhinav Bharat to Sanatan Sanstha who have committed a series of bombings in India from Malegaon to Goa.
Headlines in prominent newspapers and leading English channels read like ‘Abhinav Bharat man caught’, ‘Ajmer blast suspects linked to Hindu groups’ or ‘Ajmer blast: Hindu group responsible’.
There is no mention of ‘terrorism’ and suddenly words like suspects and ‘organisation member’ are back in journalistic lingo. Just a recent example because public memory is short:
Bettig mafia responsible for blast in Bagalore stadium during IPL!
During the Indian Premier League (IPL), bombs exploded in the stadium in Bangalore. Soon after, journalists who crave for breakthroughs and first page bylines, were mouthing names of persons involved in the blasts. There were reports that security agencies don’t deny the role of particular persons.
A few days passed and the everybody has forgotte it. Now it seems that it was local betting mafia that was involved in planting bombs in the stadium, and we no longer read any follow-ups or any sort of news. So did it make it less serious if underworld or betting mafia is involved?
The classic case was in Assam where major bomb strikes in which dozens died were ignored when ULFA was involved but once minor blasts occurred and a news agency suspected ‘Islamists’ angle’, it was suddenly prime time news and got repeatedly termed as terrorist attacks.
Just a day ago the Bangladesh government has handed DR Nabla alias Ranjan Daimary, the chief of the militant NDFB, that was involved in serial bombings in Assam in 2008 that caused over a 100 deaths. But the arrest didn’t make big news despite the fact that a terrorist mastermind was caught.
Ironically media perceptions force police and investigative agencies to hurry up in investigations and they throw up names to evade intrusive journos by saying that such group’s involvement is not ruled out. The casualty is truth.
Apart from inefficiency and political reasons, often the cases are not cracked because of these reasons. It’s a fact that had there been a BJP government in Maharashtra, Goa or Rajasthan, the activists of Sanatan Sanstha or Abhinav Bharat may never have been arrested.
Upright officers, political will needed
Though Himanshu Panse’s role in blasts in Marathwada had alerted security agencies, the investigation was closed. Firstly, some officers were soft on the group while others apparently didn’t want to get into controversy. It took an officer of the calibre of Hemant Karkare to unravel this network.
Even in cases of blasts where there was a clear stamp of right-wing radicals, Muslim youths were arrested and put for months in illegal detentions. In Hyderabad, those protesting police action were fired at and many were killed.
The fact is that whether it is Hindutva-inspired fanatic or the Islamist militant, they are equally dangerous for the country. Terrorism and crime should be seen purely as a threat to the nation and not from the prism of religion.
Sadly, this doesn’t happen. When some youths from Azamgarh were arrested, the entire district was demonised. When youths from a particular Muslims-dominated town were arrested, the name of the town ‘Bhatkal‘ was added to their names though it was not their surname.
The aim was to defame the town. It was part of a strategy. Shouldn’t Indore be also termed haven of Hindutva-wadis in India. This peaceful town in Central India has been linked to almost all the major cases of bomb blasts.
Should towns be defamed: Is Indore Hindutva-wadi’s Azamgarh?
Either its Malegaon blast, Mecca Masjid or Ajmer terror strike, the accused are being arrested from Indore. The planning was done here. Even investigation trail in Samjhauta Express case has reached Indore. And the most wanted man, Ramji Kalsangra, whose arrest can unravel the entire group, also hails from here.
It is not that MP police were not aware of Sunil Joshi’s shadowy organisation that was based in Indore. It was also aware of Samir Kulkarni’s Abhinav Bharat that was functioning from MP. But the state police didn’t act then even though local Hindi papers printed tonnes of material.
Kulkarni’s role in planting bombs at Bhopal’s major Islamic gathering of tablighi jamaat that attracts 1 million Muslims was also known but police under BJP rule didn’t act. It is only when CBI and central investigative agencies reached Indore that the activity began.
The unfortunate aspect is that everything in India either gets politicised or communalised.
Brahmin Terrorism 