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Hindu terrorism debate grips India

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The National Investigation Agency (NIA) is likely to take over all seven cases relating to Hindu terror groups being probed by police in different States and the Central Bureau of Investigation.

Though the Home Ministry had decided to hand over all the seven cases to the NIA, a draft notification to this effect, sent by it last week to the Law Ministry, is likely to be approved soon. Well-placed sources in the Home Ministry said a formal notification would be issued soon.

While the September 2006 Malegaon blast in which 38 were killed is being probed by the CBI, the February 2007 Samjhauta Express blast that claimed the lives of 67 passengers is being investigated by the NIA. The NIA is also probing the Modasa bomb blast of September 2008.

While the Rajasthan police are looking into the Ajmer Sharif blast of October 2007 in which three persons were killed, the Madhya Pradesh police are probing RSS pracharak Sunil Joshi murder case of December 2007. Yet another case of a blast in Malegaon in September 2008, in which five persons were killed, is being probed by the Mumbai police. The Mecca Masjid bomb blast of May 2007 in Hyderabad is being investigated by the CBI.

Though the BJP-ruled Madhya Pradesh government is said to be reluctant to hand over the probe into Joshi's murder, the Home Ministry is keen that a unified probe by the NIA be carried out in all cases where the alleged involvement of right-wing terror groups was suspected.

The Madhya Pradesh police recently chargesheeted some accused, including Sadhvi Pragnya Singh Thakur — already lodged in jail for her alleged involvement in the 2008 Malegaon blasts — in the Joshi murder case.

The NIA Act empowers the Centre to unilaterally hand over any terror case to the agency and does not require the State government's consent. However, Madhya Pradesh has contended that there is no “terror angle” in the Joshi case.

The decision to hand over the cases to the NIA was taken after security agencies expressed concern that the accused could use differences in the multiple probe at the trial stage to dilute charges against them.

RSS activist Sunil Joshi was shot dead at Dewas, Madhya Pradesh, in December 2007. Samjhauta blast accused Swami Aseemanand, who is in jail, in his confessional statement named Joshi as one of the key conspirators in the right-wing terror network.

The BJP has criticised the move to bring all cases under the NIA. Party spokesman Prakash Javadekar said: “If it is the government thinking, then this is the most absurd and most communal decision … because you cannot colour terror. Terror is terror and should be dealt with like terror.”


http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/article1562088.ece

2008 article
A new and highly controversial phrase has entered the sometimes cliche-riddled Indian press: "Hindu terrorism".

As with the term "Islamic terrorism" and "Christian fundamentalism", this latest addition to the media lexicon is highly emotive.

It was in the aftermath of the 29 September bomb blast in the predominantly Muslim town of Malegaon in the western state of Maharashtra that the term "Hindu terrorism" or "saffron terrorism" came to be used widely.

That was because the state police's Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) arrested 10 Hindus following the blasts and has said that it wants to arrest several more.

Little-known

One of those detained was a female priest, Sadhwi Pragya Singh Thakur, aged 38, who has been accused by the ATS of being involved in the Malegaon blast. Her detention shocked members of the faith.
So too did the arrest of a serving Indian army officer, Lt-Col Prasad Srikant Purohit, who the ATS says is the prime accused in the case.

Police said the Malegaon attacks were the work of 'terrorists'
Police are investigating whether some of those arrested are members of a little-known Hindu outfit called Abhinav Bharat (Young India).
At least three of those held have some links with a prestigious college in the city of Nasik, the Bhonsala Military Academy.

ATS investigators have questioned two of the academy's former office bearers several times.

One of them was Col Raikar, who retired from the Indian army some months ago.

Both he and Col Purohit served in the same unit of the army and became friends.

The ATS claims the meeting in which the plan for the bomb blast was hatched was held in the Bhonsala school.

Another retired army officer, Maj Prabhakar Kulkarni, is also under arrest. He too was an office bearer at the school.

In addition, the ATS says that at least one of the 10 suspects received military training here.

Sadhwi Pragya Singh Thakur, Col Purohit, Maj Kulkarni and Col Raikar have denied any connection with terrorism, as has the Bhonsala Military Academy and its parent organisation, the Central Hindu Military Education Society (CHMES).

Founded in 1937, the sprawling Bhonsala campus is run by the CHMES, an organisation established in the 1930s by Dr BS Moonje, a former president of the militant Hindu Mahasabha (Hindu Assembly) organisation.

His vision was to militarise India to fight the British Raj.
Military-style training

As the name suggests, this is not an ordinary college. Its aim, as its website claims, is to "encourage students to take up careers in the armed forces of the country".

Many Hindus are bemused at claims their faith is linked to terrorism
Military training involves teaching students how to fire guns.

The students are prepared for the National Defence Academy, the central government's premier military college.

The branch of the academy in the city of Nasik has many impressive buildings.

One of them is used to impart military-style training to students, aged 10-16 years.

Its secretary, Divakar Kulkarni, laments the fact that his school is getting a bad press these days.

He says that besides military training, students are taught Hindu philosophy and scriptures.

Mr Kulkarni accepts it's primarily a school for Hindus, but he adds that there are two or three Muslim and Christian children in every class of 45 students.

'Tea and biscuits'

"Even Muslim students study the Bhagwat Gita and the Ramayana [Hindu scriptures]," he says proudly.

So how does he respond to the ATS allegation that the bomb plot was hatched at a meeting in the academy?

Mr Kulkarni concedes his school has recently had 'bad press'
"Col Raikar let out a hall to Abhinav Bharat for a meeting for two hours, but we don't know what transpired in the meeting," Mr Kulkarni said.
The ATS believes Col Raikar was also present in the meeting. But according to Mr Kulkarni he went there just for a few minutes "to ask if they wanted tea and biscuits".

The ATS says that it has also found the aims and objectives of Abhinav Bharat downloaded on the computers of the two men.

Mr Kulkarni insisted that there was a perfectly innocent explanation for this: "They downloaded the outfit's aims and objectives without knowing much about its work," he said.

Meanwhile, most Hindu organisations believe India's Congress party-led government is playing politics by defaming Hindus.
They argue that the very term "Hindu terrorist" is not only a creation of the media but also a contradiction in terms - because the faith explicitly renounces violence.

"The government, with an eye on the general election next year, is trying to woo Muslims by maligning Hindus," says Datta Gaikward, chief of the right-wing Hindu Shiv Sena party in Nasik.

Hindu political parties are also staunchly defending Sadhwi Pragya Singh Thakur, the arrested female priest.

They have hired lawyers to represent her and at every legal hearing in Nasik supporters of right-wing parties gather outside the court and shout anti-government slogans.

All eyes will be now be on the court proceedings - whenever they start in earnest - to find out whether "Hindu terrorism" really has taken root or not.
 
wow...i never knew this problem this much serious...hope Indian government deals with it before it's too late.
 
Meh just saw a live report on the BBC world news, A swami just admitted to taking responsibility for attacks previously blamed in Muslims

that was old news where you been? we had this debate ages ago

---------- Post added at 01:05 AM ---------- Previous post was at 01:04 AM ----------

 
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Again my mistake but the BBC had just reported of an Indian swami who claimed responsibility for attacks blamed previously on Muslims

I had searched for a more recent article but it seems like news from India is not important enough in the the face of the current news cycle.
 
Again my mistake but the BBC had just reported of an Indian swami who claimed responsibility for attacks blamed previously on Muslims

Yeah he been arrested now and behind bars the criminal investigation is still ongoing to find others.
 
Excellent, violent religious movements who target civilians should be stopped with all haste

No religion advocates killing civilians and innocents they are not in the least bit religious but more a direct 'Hindu militant' response to the banned Islamic group 'SIMI' or' Indian mujahideen' as they now like to be called who conducted a wave of blasts few years back until their terror cells were caught.
 
I'm sure you are not trying establish any sort of moral equivalency


If there was such a thing that Swami would not be behind bars :tup:


The confession of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh pracharak Swami Aseemanand, about his involvement in the blast in Hyderabad's historic Mecca Masjid, Ajmer's Khwaja Moinuddin dargah and many other places, has surprised his followers and detractors alike.

The person who reportedly stirred the Swami's conscience and prompted him to confess to his involvement in terror acts is one Syed Abdul Kaleem.

Kaleem, a resident of Hyderabad, was detained and tortured by the police on suspicion of being involved in the Mecca Masjid blast. He lost three years of his life battling terror allegations while his family was humiliated by society.

Swami Aseemanand decided to confess to his crimes after he met Kaleem in jail and heard about his terrible ordeal.

In an interview with rediff.com's Mohammed Siddique, Kaleem, who was released on bail by a Hyderabad court on Tuesday, recounted his encounter with Swami Aseemanand:

He said he will apologise to each and very victim, not only in Hyderabad but also those located in other places. He said, "I will ask for forgiveness and I will try to help the victims. If I die in jail, I will leave a will stating that all my organs should be sold and the money should go to the families of victims of the blast. If I come out of jail alive, I will serve these families".

'Swami Aseemanand wants to bring Hindus and Muslims closer' - Rediff.com News


At least he has shown remorse and guilt for his actions which is a good thing.
 

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