The Hindu : Front Page : Punish terrorists, but don’t defame Hindu outfits: RSS

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Sunday, Nov 23, 2008
ePaper | Mobile/PDA Version

Front Page

Front Page

Punish terrorists, but don’t defame Hindu outfits: RSS

Neena Vyas

Selective leaks by ATS politically motivated, it says

NEW DELHI: Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh joint general secretary Madan Das Devi said here on Saturday that the government, the investigating agencies and the law should “punish the terrorist,” but “should not defame Hindu organisations.”

The RSS said it was hurt by reports describing its working committee member, Indresh Kumar, as “an agent of the Inter-Services Intelligence” of Pakistan.

Mr. Devi rubbished this charge and said the senior member was a “dedicated pracharak of the RSS.”

However, he did not say a word in defence of the Malegaon blast accused Pragnya Singh Thakur, Dayanand Saraswati or Lt. Col. Shrikant Purohit.

A senior RSS leader separately told The Hindu: “It is confirmed there was a plot to eliminate two senior RSS leaders — general secretary Mohan Bhagwat (who is the second in command after RSS chief K.S. Sudarsan) and Indresh Kumar. The compact disc on a narco test done on one of the Malegaon blast accused clearly indicated the plot. This was shown to L.K. Advani [BJP leader] by the National Security Adviser, M.K. Narayanan.”

Mr. Devi himself said a “supari” was given for the murder of the two RSS leaders.

No security cover

On that basis, the RSS charged the government with not acting on “such a serious issue.”

“Governments are obliged to ensure [the] protection of all citizens,” but, in this instance, “no initiative was taken [to offer security cover].”

Mr. Devi pointed out that RSS leaders travelled throughout the country and met a large number of people — not necessarily only those who donned the RSS uniform of khaki shorts. At these meetings “all kinds of information are given and taken. Merely because someone had come and said something doesn’t really mean anything.”

The obvious reference was to someone who may be one of the accused in the Malegaon blast case.

Contrary to what Bharatiya Janata Party president Rajnath Singh said — “no Hindu can be a terrorist” — the RSS leader acknowledged that “individuals” belonging to one religion or another might be involved in terror activities. What the RSS objected to was the “propaganda” to tarnish the image of what he called “Hindu organisations.”

He described this propaganda, through selective leaks by the Maharashtra’s Anti-Terrorism Squad, as “politically motivated.” But every terrorist’s case must be “thoroughly and professional investigated and the truth brought out.”

Corrections and Clarifications

* * The name of one of the persons said to be involved in the Malegaon blast is Dayanand Pandey. It was wrongly given as Dayanand Saraswati by Neena Vyas in the report "Punish terrorists, but don't defame Hindu outfits: RSS" (November 23, 2008).

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Front Page