No longer can the Sangh Parivar and BJP ever disown its role in terrorism. A former ABVP leader and so-called ‘sadhvi’, Pragya Singh Thakur, along with others including two ex-army officers have been arrested for their role in the Malegaon blasts of September 2006 as well as in the more recent Modasa blasts. Even more ominously, and it has come to light that Bhonsala Military Academy in Nagpur have been instrumental in imparting the arms training to the Bajrang Dal workers. It is also important to ask why the above facts were kept hidden from us for the past two years. Soon after the Malegaon blasts, in nearby Nanded, Bajrang Dal activists were accidentally killed by their own bombs, and investigation had revealed fake beards and ‘Muslim-looking’ clothing in their home. In other parts of Maharashtra and the country – Parbhani, Tenkasi, Kanpur, Faizabad – there have been leads linking saffron forces to bomb blasts. Had these leads been pursued, is it not possible that some subsequent terrorist incidents could have been avoided? The state and ruling establishment is criminally guilty of ignoring these vital leads. We demand a thorough going investigation into the involvement of Sangh outfits and so-called god-men and god-women, the Army connection, and the BJP in terrorism. And it is high time to put a ban on the Bajrang Dal, VHP and other Sangh outfits, against whom there is prima facie evidence of involvement in terrorism and communal violence.
Md Ziyaullah Khan
Pune, Maharashtra