[Reader-list] Hindutva’s terror trail

[Aditya Raj Baul]

Hindutva’s terror trail

Hardnews Bureau
http://www.hardnewsmedia.com/2010/07/3622


2002
Evidence that Hindutva groups were seeking to acquire terrorist
capabilities begins to emerge. An improvised explosive device (IED) is
found at the Bhopal railway station in December, evidently intended to
target Muslims arriving in the city to attend a Tablighi Jamaat
gathering.

2003
On November 21, there is a bomb blast at Mohammadiya Masjid in
Parbhani, Maharashtra.In December, exactly a year after the discovery
of the IED at the Bhopal railway station, another bomb is found in the
Lamba Khera area, on the outskirts of Bhopal, on the last day of a
Talblighi Jamaat meeting.

2004
On August 27, there are blasts at the Meraj-ul-Uloom Madarsa and
Masjid in Purna, and at the Quadriya Masjid in Jalna, both in
Maharashtra, injuring 18 persons.

2006
Bajrang Dal activists Naresh Kondwar and Himanshu Panse are killed in
a bomb-making accident in Nanded, Maharashtra, in April. Police later
find that the two men had allegedly been responsible for the Parbhani
blast, and other Bajrang Dal activists linked to the Nanded cell were
involved in the Purna and Jalna blasts.Blasts triggered at three
different places in Malegaon, including a mosque-cum-graveyard where
38 people are killed. The occasion was Shab-e-Baraat and people had
come to offer prayers for their dead.

2007
On February 18, 68 people are killed and scores injured when two
suitcase bombs exploded in the Indo-Pak Samjhauta Express when it was
passing through Dewana village in Haryana. Among the dead are 42
Pakistani nationals. Indian authorities immediately blame a suspicious
Pakistani national for allegedly masterminding the attack and call it
an attempt to sabotage the peace process.On May 18, a bomb blast at
the historic 17th-century Mecca Masjid in the heart of Hyderabad kills
nine persons and injures at least 50. Police fires on people
protesting against the attack, killing five. Reportedly, around 200
Muslim youth are picked up, kept in illegal detention and brutally
tortured for many days.In August, two Bajrang Dal activists, Rajeev
Mishra and Bhupendra Arora, were killed in Kanpur while assembling
bombs.On August 25, twin blasts rock Gokul Chaat and Lumbini Park in
Hyderabad, killing 53 persons. Police point fingers at HUJI and,
later, the Indian Mujahideen, for carrying out the attack to avenge
the Mecca Masjid blasts.On October 11, a low-intensity bomb explodes
at the Dargah of Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti in Ajmer, killing three
persons. The same module of HUJI which the police had blamed for the
Mecca Masjid blast is alleged to be behind the attack. The SIM card
used to trigger the Mecca Masjid blast is found to be from the same
series as the one found at the site of the Ajmer blast.

2008
On September 29, five Muslims are killed in Malegaon, Maharashtra, and
another person in Modasa, Gujarat, when bombs exploded within minutes
of each other. Police immediately blame their usual suspects, the
Jehadis. The probe takes a new turn, however, after the arrest of
Dayanand Pandey, Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur and Lt Col Srikanth
Purohit in October for their alleged involvement in the Malegaon
blast. Police says the attack was carried out by the Hindu Jagran
Manch, an Indore-based Rightwing Hindu outfit, which reportedly has
links with Abhinav Bharat, another such outfit based in Pune, and the
Akhil Bhartiya Vidyarthi Parishad. Many photographs in which Sadhvi
Pragya is seen with senior BJP leaders also come to light. But the
probe comes to a standstill in November after the mysterious death of
Maharashtra ATS Chief Hemant Karkare in the Mumbai terror attack.

2009
On October 16, two men die when a bomb they were carrying explodes in
Margao, Goa, on Diwali eve. The suspects are allegedly members of a
Rightwing Hindu organisation called Sanatan Sanstha. The police also
recover two unexploded IEDs at Sancaole, Goa.

2010
On May 1, the Rajasthan ATS arrests Devendra Gupta from Bihariganj in
Ajmer. He is allegedly responsible for procuring the SIM cards used
for carrying out the Ajmer Dargah blast. Chandrashekhar, an RSS
activist from Madhya Pradesh, is also arrested for his alleged role in
the plot. Both are linked to Abhinav Bharat. However, Swami Asimanand,
the alleged mastermind of the Ajmer and Malegaon blast, is still
absconding. CBI Director Ashwani Kumar claims that the bombs used in
the Ajmer, Malegaon and Samjhauta express blasts had used the same
arming devices that were procured from Indore.On May 17, the National
Investigating Agency files a chargesheet at a district court against
11 members of Sanatan Sanstha, a Rightwing Hindu outfit, for the 2009
Margao blast.