[Reader-list] Pracharak As Terrorist: On The Bhasmasur Of Hindutva Terror

[Aditya Raj Baul]

Pracharak As Terrorist: On The Bhasmasur Of Hindutva Terror

By Subhash Gatade

13 July, 2010
Countercurrents.org
http://www.countercurrents.org/gatde130710.htm

I.

Hindu mythology with its plethora of gods and goddesses (which
according to a conservative estimate numbers around 330 millions or 33
crores) has n number of stories supposedly to show the human face of
the almighty. One such story talks of the creation of a demon called
Bhasmasur by one of the gods himself. The said demon had the unique
power of turning everything into ash if he could touch anybody’s head.
The story goes that after ‘conquering’ the world the demon tries to
attack his ‘creator god’ namely Shiva himself and then Lord Vishnu
intervenes and manages to eliminate the demon itself.

Whatever might have been the significance of the story then, it bears
striking resemblance to the plight of the RSS – the biggest
fountainhead of Hindutva politics in the country – today. And this
relates to the arrest of many of its senior wholetimers ( called
Pracharaks in its lexicon) for their role as masterminds, instigator
or patrons of terrorist acts in the country and the ongoing
questioning of many other senior leaders for their role in aiding and
abetting such acts. Interestingly the parent organisation has till
date not formally denied their role in all these acts and nor called
it witchhunting as it did when investigations into the Malegaon bomb
blast II (Sept 2008) were on and the likes of Sadhvi Pragya, Lt Col
Purohit and others from the larger Hindutva family found themselves
behind bars. In fact, this time it appears more cautious and according
to a report it has even sent few of its leaders who supposedly played
some role in these acts on a compulsory leave and has plans to send
few more. (Bhaskar, 7 th July 2010).

It will never be known what role (if any) the RSS itself played in
these acts or not but with the arrest of few of its senior in engaging
in such acts it is clear that there definitely existed a network of
rogue RSS Pracharaks/leaders who cleverly manipulated the Parivar
links to their heinous agenda. Of course, it is now history how the
RSS received oppropribium (a la Vallabhbhai Patel, the first home
minister of independent India) for creating the culture of violence
which ultimately led to the assassination of Mahatma Gandhi and
questions would always be raised how it fostered such rogue
pracharak-terrorists in its ranks. Whatever might be the truth in the
case it cannot be denied that RSS and its top bosses have to do a lot
of explaining in coming few weeks and one might see arrest of few
other senior leaders of the Parivar for helping the
Pracharak-terrorists execute the Ajmer as well as Mecca Masjid blasts.

The moot question is whether the powers that be would show enough
spine to take all necessary steps to stamp out the roots of
majoritarian terrorism in the country or would suddenly develop cold
feet once the investigations further unravel few other dark corners of
the issue.

II.

What is the present worry of the RSS ? The lacklustre performance of
its appointee as BJP President or the manner in which the Delhi 4 (as
named by Sangh Supremo Mohan Bhagwat) is wresting control over the
party with due support of Advani or for that matter the drop in
attendance at its Shakhas ? Or it has to do with the reinduction of
Jaswant Singh ( who committed the heresy of praising Jinnah in this
book) in the party. It cannot be denied that the Sangh leadership is
not pertrubed over all these developments and has not lost a single
chance to administer a dose of 'baudhik' to them from time to time.
Recently there indeed was such a meeting where the Sangh people spoke
and the top leadership of BJP listened.

But all these little worries have not given the Sangh leadership
sleepless nights. It seems more pertrubed over the 'Hindu' link to
terrorism.

If one were to believe newspaper reports then it becomes clear that
the biggest worry facing the Sangh leadership is this 'Hindu' link to
terrorism which first surfaced in the form of 'Sadhvi' Pragya Singh
Thakur and has since caught on. A leading correspondent with The Hindu
even shared that the situation has become so grim that "..[m]any in
the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh have been spending sleepless nights,
wondering where police investigations will lead once the agencies are
able to connect all the dots that have emerged over the past two
years." (RSS worried about 'Hindu' linkd to terrorism, Neena Vyas, The
Hindu, 2 June 2010)

Definitely its worries are understandable. Nanded-Parbhani- Malegaon
in Maharashtra, Tenkasi in Tamil Nadu, Mecca Masjid in A.P. Ajmer bomb
blast in Rajasthan, Kanpur in U.P., Bhopal in M.P. and the ongoing
investigation in the blasts in the Samjhauta Express establishing
clear links with the fraternity. The list seems endless.

Gone are the days when any link of terrorism with the name Hindu was
frowned upon even by a section of the civil society, today with the
hand of Hindu terror visible in many of the terrorist acts spread over
the country and many of the wholetimers of the RSS ( called
'Pracharaks') behind bars or waiting to be interned or interrogated
shortly, there has been a qualitative change in the situation.

Gone are the days when Congress ministers had no qualms in blaming any
terrorist act within the country to the omnipresent LeT or HuJI or for
that matter evil forces from across the border, gone are the days when
many a reporters with secular sounding publications use to provide
gory details of the world of 'Jihadi terror' directly/indirectly
blaming the same forces for every such act.(There is no doubt that the
gory world exists but more about it some time later). Perhaps the
Sangh felt that it had never been so good that even its arch rivals in
politics were parroting the same language vis-a-vis terrorism. But as
already mentioned Malegaon happened and Sadhvi Pragya Singh and her
bravado reached national headlines and everything seems to have turned
for the worse. Interestingly the Sangh was happy that with years of
painstaking work done by many of its low lying Swayamsevaks who
adorned the seats of power in many key posts in the
bureaucracy/polity. This tactics has helped it to see that the 'eyes
and ears' to any government namely the Intelligence or the IB or the
RAW are filled with 'likeminded' people, and had made it possible (to
quote Malay Krishna Dhar in his book 'Open Secrets' ) that there was
convergence of thinking in the 'intelligence and the RSS'.

As it is evident in the developments since last two-three years all
that seems to be passe.

And supposedly to steer clear of any controversy a new line seems to
have emerged in the RSS 'after intense discussions'.
- No protection or help to those who are indulging in such activities
or have been engaged in such acts
- No public statement in support of arrest/interrogation of its
workers in such cases
- Cooperation with the police in investigations, the sources said.

To convey its "extreme worries" about being linked to terrorism a
"..[s'trong message has been sent to all swayamsevaks (RSS volunteers)
that they should expect no protection if they are mixed up in any
terrorist activity, said an RSS leader." (-do- ,The Hindu, 2 June
2010)

Question naturally arises why suddenly the Sangh fraternity wants to
distance itself from 'terrorism' of the Hindu kind ? Is it because if
it does not do it then there are real chances that many top bosses of
the Sangh would be facing music for their connivance with such
terrorists at various levels ? A quick glance at the
questioning/interrogation of people supposed to be involved in these
blasts demonstrates that their fears are real.

And lastly whether Sangh is ready to 'walk the talk' or it is just a
case of mere public posturing.

III.

A public meeting organised in Jaipur by People's Union for Civil
Liberties (PUCL) and other democratic organisations to discuss the
Ajmer Bomb Blast and its aftermath proved to be a learning experience
to understand the great hiatus which exists between what RSS says and
does when it comes to terrorism.

It may be told that this bomb blast had witnessed deaths of two
innocents and injuries to scores of people and was earlier blamed on
HuJI and there were many arrests/detention also but recently it came
to light that a terror module led by a leading RSS Pracharak Devender
Gupta- who was till recently incharge of its affairs in Jharkhand - in
fact planned and executed this act. Only a thorough investigation by
the Rajasthan ATS after BJP's ouster from power in the state helped it
reach new leads and then it could lay hands on many members of the
terror modules run by these RSS activists.

A simple question was posed in the meeting why is it that many such
investigations in terror acts have suddenly gone cold in BJP ruled
states ?

It was reported by a leading lawyer from Ajmer, that a team from
Rajasthan police had even cracked the Ajmer bomb blast case way back
in 2007 only but because of political considerations the finding were
kept under wraps. He shared names of the three police officers ( who
are facing suspension at present for some different reason) who led
the investigation and reached the masterminds of the terrorist blast.
The gentleman also appealed to the audience that it files RTI
application to unearth the truth.

Perhaps it would be worth emphasising that two of the accused in the
Ajmer bomb blast are at present absconding and CBI has announced a
reward of 10 Lakh Rs. to those who can help arrest them. These two
accused namely Sandeep Dange who is known as Parmananda and
Ramachandra Kalsangra who uses aliases like Ramji had earlier been
arrested by the Anti-Terrorist Squad of the Rajasthan police in
connection with the blast in Ajmer dargah, but they were released
later. ((www.rediff.com, Last updated on: June 22, 2010 14:55 IST) Is
it not time to investigate who ordered their release then.

It may be added here that the advocate who has agreed to fight the
case of the Pracharak- terrorist Devender Gupta and his cronies
happens to be a city level functionary of the BJP in Ajmer and he as
well as his family are part of the Sangh Parivar since few decades. It
would be height of innocence to assume that this advocate is acting on
this own and has not been briefed by the Sangh leadership to undertake
this task. One can easily note the contrast in this particular case
which involves a group of Hindu terrorists owing allegiance to the RSS
and the ease with which they could get a advocate. Imagine if any
innocent Muslims would have been apprehended by the police under
similar terror charges then how the same Hindutva brigade would have
opposed with all its might, s/he getting a lawyer of one's own choice.

As of now the claims by the investigating agencies based on the inputs
they had that the same terror module was behind not only the Ajmer
bomb blast but the Mecca bomb blast( May 18, 2007, in which nine
people had been killed) stand vindicated. The latest chargsheet filed
by the CBI in this case shows involvement of five RSS members. Sunil
Joshi ( killed in 2007), Ramchandra Kalsangra, Sandeep Dange, Devender
Gupta and Lokesh Sharma
Dead RSS activist named as accused in Mecca Masjid blast case
(www.rediff.com) Last updated on: June 22, 2010 14:55 IST

The Central Bureau of Investigation has added the name of Rashtriya
Swayamsevak Sangh activist Sunil Joshi to the list of accused in the
Mecca Masjid blast case.Joshi, who hails from Madhya Pradesh was shot
dead by three unknown assailants on December 29, 2007, months after
the blasts in Hyderabad and Ajmer...His name is the latest addition to
a list which includes RSS members Ramchandra Kalsangra alis Ramji,
Sandeep Dange, Devender Gupta and Lokesh Sharma. Significantly, the
CBI petition has referred to all five of them as RSS members.
According to sources, Sunil Joshi has emerged as the main brain behind
the conspiracy to target Muslim religious sites across the country. He
was allegedly one of the three suspects who entered the Mecca Masjid
posing as tourists and planted the bomb.Joshi is reportedly a close
friend of Sadhvi Pragya Thakur [ Images ], the main accused in the
Malegaon blast case.

CBI investigations have revealed that Joshi, Dange and Kalsangra had
travelled to Hyderabad from Indore by train and stayed at a lodge in
Secunderabad, where they assembled the bombs. The accused then
travelled from Secunderabad to the mosque in an auto rickshaw.
According to CBI sources, the accused had planned to target Muslim
religious places across the country to avenge the terrorist attack on
Sankat Mochan Mandir in Varanasi. Apart from Mecca Masjid and Ajmer
dargah, their hit list also included the historic Jama Masjid in
Delhi.

According to the available information the same terrorist module was
behind Samjhauta express blast also but as already claimed by the
Haryana Police the non-cooperation exhibited by the M.P. police has
proved to be a great deterrent in finding enough clinching evidence.

It is worth emphasising that the CBI was also questioning leaders of
the BJP and the RSS in other parts of the country who supposedly knew
about the blast(s) and who supposedly sheltered the accused after the
blast. Recently it even called two senior leaders of RSS from Uttar
Pradesh to Hyderabad and questioned them there ( Indian Express, RSS
leaders from UP questioned in Mecca Masjid case, 30 June 2010) One of
them was Ashok Beri, Kshetra Pracharak of the RSS in U.P and other was
Ashok Varshney, outfit's Prant Pracharak who is based in Kanpur. These
two senior leaders of RSS were questioned following the interrogation
of terrorist duo Devendra Gupta and Lokesh Sharma.

RSS leaders from UP questioned in Mecca Masjid case
Smita Nair , Indian Express, Wed Jun 30 2010, 03:32 hrs Mumbai:

News about the questioning comes days after the Central Bureau of
Investigation (CBI) announced a reward of Rs 10 lakh for information
regarding two suspected Hindu extremists, Ramchandra Kalsangra alias
Ramji and Sandeep Dange alias Parmanand, who have been on the run and
are also wanted in connection with the 2007 Ajmer blast and the 2008
Malegaon blast. Investigators now suspect that the same group of Hindu
extremists may have been responsible for all three bomb attacks.
One does not know whether the CBI questioned them about the Kanpur
bomb blast ( 24 August 2008) where two RSS/Bajrang Dal members were
killed while trying to make bombs on that day. As facts tell us names
of at least one senior VHP leader and contact details of some VHP,
Bajrang Dal members had emerged in the initial probe. The contact
details of the two youths - who were killed in the bomb blasts -
especially their Sangh Parivar network was not properly investigated.
The names of many local and outstation leaders, including VHP's Kanpur
general Secretary Awadh Behari Mishra and a senior professor in IIT
had also cropped up initially. (UP police ignoring vital Kanpur leads,
Josy Joseph, Tuesday, DNA, November 04, 2008 03:05 IST)

IV.

If one were to go by the self-definition of RSS, we will find that it
calls itself a 'cultural organisation'.

As a layperson is not it the responsibility of every sane person to
ask what is 'cultural' about bomb making and storing detonators ? What
is cultural about establishing terror modules in different parts of
the country ? RSS would always formally deny that it is its official
policy ? Then it will have to answer another important query, how is
it that many of its wholetimers have metamorphosed into pure
terrorists ? And how this emergence of terrorists in its ranks is an
all India phenomenon.

One can go on citing different examples to buttress the case.

CM ready to provide proof of Bomb making by RSS (11 Sept 2003, Central
Chronicle).
..The Chief Minister said that the proof he has, is the candid
admission by the RSS workers, who had been arrested earlier. Singh was
speaking to mediapersons here at the airport. He said that the
arrested RSS workers in their statement had said that they had planted
bomb at a programme in Bhopal. He revealed that in 1993 when the bomb
was being made in Seva Bharti office in Neemuch, it exploded..
http://www.centralchronicle.com/20030911/1109013.htm

Three years back many of its own activists were involved in bomb
attack on its own office ((3 arrested in Tenkasi bomb blast case,
Tuesday February 5 2008 08:12 IST , Express News Service ( Newindian
express) The investigations revealed that the blasts were planned to
provoke a backlash between two groups of different and dominant
communities in Tenkasi. Investigations revealed that S Ravi Pandian
(42), a cable TV operator, S Kumar (28), an auto driver, both from
Tenkasi, and V Narayana Dharma (26) of Sencottai had planted 14 pipe
bombs in the office of Ravi Pandian.

Formally the RSS may lose sleep over the allegations of Hindu
terrorism. But can it shy away from the fact that its own history is
replete with examples to demonstrate how its leaders have cultivated
and promoted a culture of violence.

Shikarpur bomb blast in Karachi, immediately after partition, where
its own office faced devastation because of explosion of bombs stored
there is a classic case of its involvement in terrorist acts. L.K.
Advani, the septugenarian leader of the BJP happened to be a leading
member of the RSS there

Rajeshwar Dayal, the first Home Secretary of United Province after
Independence, recounts in his autobiography an incident which exposes
the sinister designs of the RSS in fomenting communal tension in the
country on the eve of independence. (Rajeshwar Dayal, A Life of Our
Times, Delhi : Orient Longmans, 1999 , 93-94.)

‘I must record an episode of a very grave nature when the
procrastination and indecision of the UP cabinet led to dire
consequences. When communal tension was still at fever pitch, the
Depuby Inspector General of Police of the Western Range, a very
seasoned and capable officer, B.B.L. Jaitley, arrived at my house in
great secrecy. He was accompanied by two of his officers who brought
with them two large steel trunks securely locked. When the trunks were
opened, they revealed incontrovertible evidence of a dastardly
conspiracy to create a communal holocaust throughout the western
districts of the province. The trunks were crammed with blueprints of
great accuracy and professionalism of every town and village in that
vast area, prominently marking out the Muslim localities and
habitations...

‘Greatly alarmed by those revelations, I immediately took the police
party to the Premier ( chief minister’s house.There in a closed room,
Jaitley gave a full report of his discovery, backed by all the
evidence contained in the steel trunks. Timely raids conducted on the
premises of RSS had brought the massive conspiracy to light.The whole
plot had been concerted under the direction and supervision of the
Supremo of the organisation himself. Both Jaitley and I pressed for
the immediate arrest of the prime accused, Shri Golwalkar, who was
still in the area.

..What ultimately emerged was that a letter should be issued to Shri
Golwalkar pointing out the contents and nature of the evidence which
had been gathered and demanding an explanation thereof. ..

‘Golwalkar, however, had been tipped off and he was nowhere to be
found in the area.

‘Came January 30, 1948 when the Mahatma, that supreme apostle of
peace, fell to a bullet fired by an RSS fanatic. The tragic episode
left me sick at heart.’.

There is no iota of doubt that if Golwalkar would have been
apprehended by the police then and duly convicted on the basis of
available evidence then he would have definitely replaced Nathuram
Godse as the ‘The first terrorist of Independent India’.