It is no coincidence that the exposure of the links
of RSS functionaries in terror strikes in different parts of the country over a
period was closely followed by the high-voltage drama enacted by the BJP in the
name of ‘Ekta Yatra’ intended to mobilize its cadre from all over the country –
reminiscing the infamous Ramjanmabhoomi rath yatra to Ayodhya and Karseva of
the early 1990s – to hoist the national flag at Lal Chowk in Srinagar on the
Republic Day.
Pushed to the defensive mode and no more able to
cover up their sinister designs to divide the Indian People on communal lines,
the RSS Chief Mohan Bhagwat admitted that there were some members in the Sangh
who had radical (misnomer for terrorist) views but “they were told to leave the
organization since this extremism would not work in the outfit.” Responding to
this remark Congress Spokesman Manish Tiwari said, “rather than the rats
deserting the ship it seems to be case of the ship deserting rats.”
Hindu Maha Sabha founder Veer Sawarkar had the
original idea of two nation theory which was later adopted by Jinnah. The
partition of India
happened because the twin radical strains of both Hindutva and Islam were
adamant. But despite the fact that India became a secular republic,
attempts are being made to convert it into a Hindutva state. Terrorism is not a
part of only one community. It is not right to assume that Hindus cannot be
terrorists. Hindutva terrorism has a long history dating back to pre-Independence
days.
Worried about the fallout of 40 of its cadres
investigated and interrogated so far in connection with the Ajmer Sharief,
Malegaon, Smjhauta and Mecca Masjid blasts and in the murder of RSS activist
Sunil Joshi, which could lead to unraveling of concerted and deep controversy,
the RSS has started a six-week mass contact programme to undo the damage to its
reputation. The RSS leadership decided on a mass contact programme at its Akil
Bharatiya Karyakarini meeting at Jalgaon in October last.
Of the seven persons among the accused in different
cases – Pragya Singh Thakur, Lokesh Sharma, Devendra Gupta, Aseemanand, Sunil
Joshi, Ramchandra Kabangre and Sandeep Dange, Joshi was murdered alleged by his
own associate as instigated and financed by RSS leader Indresh Kumar.
It is in this background of the RSS decision to
cover up its evil designs, that its political wing the BJP had undertaken this
yatra.
BJP has suddenly discovered unique patriotism and
heroically set off to hoist the national flag at the Lal Chowk in Srinagar. The roadshow
was allegedly by the yuva morcha, but it was constantly “inspired” by rousing
speeches from the senior BJP leader, L.K. Advani, and in the last lap led by
Leaders of the Opposition in Parliament, Arun Jaitley and Sushma Swaraj. As the
crowd of BJP workers set off from Kolkata the impression, a lay person would
have received was that they were setting off to conquer enemy territory, not
that they were going to what is indisputably a part of India, a state ruled by
a democratically elected government, with a chief minister with whose party the
BJP had been in coalition just a few short years ago.
The BJP and its leaders did not care that by
singling out the Kashmir Valley for flag-hoisting, they were actually giving
credence to the claim of separatists who assert until today that Kashmir never acceded to the Indian Union. They did not
care that when a huge crowd of emotionally-charged young men converge upon a
critical and sensitive area like Lal Chowk, the law and order situation is
bound to be affected badly and the crowd is likely to over-react and get out of
control. They did not care that the stone-pelters who had created so much
trouble in the Valley have now finally brought under control and the hard-won
peace in the Valley would be brutally shattered by their confrontational
display of nationalism.
Every right-thinking Indian would like to ask the
BJP some simple questions. If they wanted to exhibit their new-found enthusiasm
to hoist the national flag, why could they not do it in Lucknow,
Patna, Bhopal
or Bengaluru? Or in their own homes? Did the national flag fly on Republic Day
in the homes of BJP leaders and workers? The answer is a resounding no. It is
equally true that they only chose Srinagar
in order to stir up a political controversy and try and polarise citizens on
religious lines.
Next, why did the BJP not feel this patriotism in
those six years when it was running the Union government in Delhi? Was it not necessary, in their view,
to hoist the flag at Lal Chowk during those six years? Except for one time in
1992 (when they were not in power and prior to the Babri Masjid demolition)
when Murli Manohar Joshi tried to hoist the national flag at Lal Chowk, the BJP
has never attempted to go to Srinagar to unfurl the national flag. Obviously
this newly-discovered enthusiasm has to be attributed to ulterior and
extraneous reasons and certainly not to any genuine nationalism.
If only they were so much patriotic, they could have
joined the official flag hoisting of the elected government elsewhere in Srinagar and raised
patriotic slogans. There was absolutely no need for them to engage in a
competitive display of nationalism with the government of the state, thereby
allowing the separatists to have the last laugh.
Even the allies of the BJP outrightly condemned the
BJP misadventures. NDA convenor and JD (U) President Shard Yadav and Bihar
Chief Minister Nitish Kumar severely criticized the BJP leadership and
dissociated themselves from their move.
The RSS and BJP are not new to cover up their
diabolical designs. Look at Karnataka. The most charitable explanation for the
Justice B K Somasekhara Commission’s anodyne report on the attacks on churches
in Karnataka in 2008 is that it was perfunctory in its investigations. Otherwise,
it is difficult to explain why its endeavours over more than two years produced
nothing substantial about the incidents. All that it has been able to do is to
blame unidentified “misguided fundamentalist miscreants” for the attacks — a
conclusion an average citizen would have reached without the paraphernalia of a
probe. Yet, even if the commission was unable to pinpoint who exactly were the
culprits, it was curiously insightful in absolving the “true Hindus” of any
blame.
If the judge had been less preoccupied with the
mentality of genuine Hindus and Christians, he might have been able to
ascertain the identity of at least some of the criminals. But, as his
observation that the reputation of “true Christians” has been damaged by the
conversions carried on by “a few organisations and self-styled pastors” shows,
his area of interest was wider than the commission’s basic objective. At the
same time, his reference to the “inducements” offered by the dubious pastors
for conversions points to a possible reason why the fundamentalists ran amok.
Considering that the only person named in the
report is a former Bajrang Dal chief in the state, it is clear that the
commission was not too far off the mark since this organisation was also named
in the murders of Christian missionary Graham Staines and his two sons in
Orissa in 1999. However, all that the panel has said about him is that he
“publicly” justified the attacks. But this, too, has long been known since he
had done so on television. One might have expected the commission to pursue
this link to find the other miscreants.
But, instead, the judge has chosen to give a clean
chit to the BJP and the “mainstream” Sangh Parivar organisations although he
acknowledges that the culprits may have “mistakenly presumed that they will be
protected by the party in power”. Such a presumption is suggested of at least a
tenuous connection between the attackers and the saffron outfits although the
commission has categorically ruled out any direct or even indirect links.
This report is in a major departure from the
commission’s observations in the interim report given in February 2010. Even
while absolving Hindutva outfits of the attacks the report said ‘circulation of
derogatory literature with insulting attitude against Hindus and issues of
conversion were the main reasons behind the attacks. What a self-contradiction?
While interim report observed that government was insensitive to the plight of
Christians the final report says government did not cold shoulder minority
Christian community. It is quite obvious at whose behest the cover up was made
by the commission.
The BJP’s hype of patriotism and so-called crusade
against corruption from its own compelling necessity to hide the terrorist face
of Hindutva doctrine!
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