sangh keen to delink with modern terrorism

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Date:02/06/2010 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2010/06/02/stories/2010060255440100.htm


RSS worried about ‘Hindu' link to terrorism

Neena Vyas

NEW DELHI: Ever since a ‘Hindu' link to terrorism surfaced in the form
of ‘sadhvi' Pragya Singh Thakur, many 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.

Malegaon in Maharashtra, Macca Masjid in Andhra Pradesh, Ajmer in
Rajasthan and a question mark on the blasts in the Samjhauta Express.
The list seems to go on. Terrorism may have no religion, but for the
RSS it is discomfiting to have not only Hindus linked to acts of
terror but to also have some of those individuals connected to the
organisation as well.

Now, after intense discussions within the RSS, a clear line has
emerged: there is no way the organisation will either “protect” or
help those who are indulging in such activities or have done so in the
past. After the initial noises which seemed supportive of Pragya Singh
— L.K. Advani and Rajnath Singh had issued statements — the RSS and
its affiliates have decided to maintain silence on new developments as
the investigations get under way. Therefore, there was not even a
murmur when an RSS pracharak, Devendra Gupta, was arrested in
connection with the Ajmer blasts.

RSS sources told The Hindu that the view that has emerged after
intense internal discussion is that the organisation should steer
clear of this matter and cooperate with the police while giving no
protection to the accused. If terror activities do get linked to the
RSS in the minds of the people, the organisation would run into some
very rough weather, the sources said.

The organisation was “extremely worried” about being linked to
terrorism. A strong 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.

“If even for a day the RSS were to be directly linked to terrorist
activity, we would suffer a fate worse than what we did after the
murder of the Mahatma when the finger of suspicion pointed to the RSS
[the RSS was given the benefit of the doubt in the case],” the leader
said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

There was no way the RSS could deny that Gupta was a ‘pracharak' of
the RSS who was posted in the Jharkhand area for several years. His
arrest in connection with the 2007 blast in the Ajmer dargah, which
killed three persons and left many more injured, was too close for
comfort. Worse, the SIM cards used in the blast carried the same
series as those found in the Macca Masjid blasts, showing a strong
connection. They were purchased in Jharkhand.

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