The cat is finally out of the bag. In numerous bomb blasts that ??have taken place in the country, the investigating agencies as well as the media swoop on certain Muslim organisations and brand them as terrorists, who perpetrated the ghastly crime. Irrespective of whether the crime has taken place in a Masjid or Mandir or Market, the same stereotype stories are flashed everywhere. However the Tamilnadu Police has turned the tables and its investigations have turned the tide towards the real perpetrators of such crimes. It has arrested three Sangh Parivar activists for triggering blasts in the RSS office at Tenkasi.
Tenkasi is a busy town in Tirunelveli District of Tamilnadu. Since its location is close to the famous Courtallam waterfalls it attracts a large number of tourists. Hindus belonging to various castes as well as Muslims and Christians have been living in harmony in this town from time immemorial. Tenkasi means Kasi of South. This town has a famous temple called Kasi Viswanathar Temple. Though the local Sangh Parivar outfit called Hindu Munnani has been objecting to the renovation of the Bazaar Masjid situated near the temple, communal harmony has prevailed in this town. Muslims living in this town are basically involved in various kinds of trade.
The Sangh Parivar elements have been trying to communally polarise this town for a long period of time. However their attempts in the past have become futile. But the killing of Kumara Pandian, an activist of Hindu Munnani in December 2006 disturbed the peaceful atmosphere in Tenkasi. Kumara Pandian was murdered by a group of Muslim gangsters out of personal animosity. But the Sangh Parivar elements targeted leading Muslim businessmen as well as members of Tamilnadu Muslim Munnetra Kazhagam (TMMK) for allegedly behind the murder. On March 2, 2007, Mohideen Sait Khan, the then District President of TMMK and resident of Tenkasi, was brutally attacked by Hindu Munnani activists. He suffered grievous injuries in several parts of his body. However he survived the attack. The police arrested a handful of Hindu Munnani activists in this case.
Tenkasi was boiling with communal fervour. On August 14, 2007, six persons (3 Hindus and 3 Muslims) were hacked to death in a fight between two groups. These two groups comprised persons who were charged for the murder of Kumara Pandian and assault on Mohideen Sait Khan and were out on bail. The police clamped down on both sides and arrested a number of persons from both communities.
In the aftermath of these incidents, when Tenkasi was limping back to normalcy just two days before the Republic day, on February 24, 2008 bomb blasts in the RSS office in Tenkasi and in the bus stand jolted the city. The media carried big stories about the blasts. The Sangh Parivar organised demonstrations in various parts of the state, demanding the arrest of Muslim ‘terrorists’, who according to them had committed the crime. However the Tamilnadu Police did not budge like their counterparts in other states. A special team led by Mr. Kannappan, DIG, Tirunelveli range made a thorough investigation and have arrested so far three persons, S. Ravi Pandian (42), a cable TV operator, S. Kumar (28), an auto driver, both from Tenkasi, and V Narayana Sharma (26) of Sencottai, all Sangh Parivar activists.
Explosive experts were deployed to probe the blasts at the RSS office and the bus stand. Earlier it was thought that unidentified persons had hurled crude bombs at these places. But now it has been found that low-intensity ‘pipe’ bombs had been placed in these areas, a police official told PTI. ?The power to the area was disconnected before the incident.
According to Sanjeev Kumar, IG, South Zone, the bomb blast inside the new bus stand was planned to divert the police investigation. DIG of Police Kannappan said the trio had tested the capacity of the bombs at Papanasam before executing the plan. Since the bombs contained substances like ammonium nitrate, electric detonators, batteries and timer devices, the explosion was possible within 30 to 40 seconds, said Kannappan.
The Investigation is still going on. The Police said 14 pipe bombs were assembled and the operations began from July last year. The arrested persons have confessed that the trio executed the plan to create a divide between the rival communities and thereby pave way for a backlash and generate sympathy for the family of the four deceased. They have also confessed that in the past they could not generate support from the Hindu community in Tenkasi and thought this blast would yield the desired impact.
With the Lok Sabha elections approaching, it is reliably learnt that Sangh Parivar outfits want to repeat Coimbatore in Tenkasi to get sympathy votes. The BJP which contested the last Assembly elections alone drew a blank. It is now desperate for them to mobilise the Hindu votes and enact the pranks in Tenkasi. Kudos to Tamilnadu Police, who has exposed the nefarious activities of the Sangh Parivar.
The Tirunelveli Police has also indicated that the explosives used in Tenkasi are similar to those used in the Makkah Masjid blast at Hyderabad. It has also indicated that these blasts would not have been triggered without the knowledge of the top brass of Sangh Parivar outfits in Tamilnadu.
In the light of the revelations of the Tamilnadu Police, the CBI should reinvestigate the Makkah Masjid blasts and other blasts which took place in different parts of the country. In all these blasts, there is a general feeling that mechanically the investigating agencies have blamed certain outfits and booked innocent persons instead of the real accused. Will the CBI and Home Ministry wake up?
[The writer is president TMMK]