Herald, 19 June 2008 Editorial
Terror's new face The arrest of sevaks of the Sanatan Sanstha, a religious group that is behind the Hindu Janajagruti Samiti for planting bombs in theatres at Thane and Vashi brings a new dimension to terrorism. Seven people were injured when one of the bombs the sevaks planted exploded in the parking lot of Thane's Gadkari Rangayatan theatre on 4 June. Ramesh Hanumant Gadkari, Mangesh Nikam, Santosh Angre and Vikram Bhave, the four bombers, are all full-time activists of the Sanatan Sanstha, living in ashrams run by the organisation. Their arrest at the end of a 10-day investigation by the Maharashtra Anti-terrorism Cell exposes what many have suspected for a few years now; that not all terrorists are Muslim, and there are Hindu terrorists too. Police say that they had planted a bomb outside a mosque or dargah on the Pen highway last Diwali, to check its intensity, but it did not explode. Nikam had earlier set off a bomb in the house of a family in Ratnagiri that had converted to Christianity, and was on bail awaiting trial. Ever since there was an accidental bomb blast at a flat in Nanded rented by Bajrang Dal activists a few years ago, there has been suspicion that extremist Hindu organisations were also carrying out terrorist attacks. However, police forces in India never seriously investigated this phenomenon, blaming the Malegaon blasts, the Mecca Masjid blast in Hyderabad, the blasts in the Jaipur dargah, etc, on 'Islamic terrorists'. Now, they need to have a fresh look, and see who was really responsible. The Sanstha has said it had no knowledge of these activities and that the sevaks did it 'on their own'. But the police say it is very clear that at least one of the bombs was assembled in the ashram premises, though no bomb-making materials were found in Gadkari's room. Protestations of innocence cannot be taken at face value, and the organisation must be investigated thoroughly. Its literature talks of 'elimination' of 'evildoers', and though no doubt they will claim that the words are used in a figurative and not literal sense, the police need to rigorously look into its voluminous literature and check out its activities with a fine tooth comb. This is because the Sanatan Sanstha and the Bajrang Dal, two Hindu fundamentalist organisations that are both linked to bomb blasts, are the main constituents of the broad joint front called the Hindu Janajagriti Samiti, which has been holding public meetings all over Goa claiming Hinduism is in danger, and making provocative speeches. Besides, the leader of the Sanstha, Dr Jayant Athavale, lives mostly in Goa at Mangueshi, and directs the organisation's activities from this state. What is especially troubling is the editorial written by Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray in yesterday's 'Saamna', his party's newspaper. He has advocated the creation of 'Hindu suicide squads', saying that the only way to counter the threat of Islamic terror is by 'Hindu terror'. This threat cannot be taken lightly. Terrorists typically target innocents, and with two varieties of terror 'taking on' each other with bombs, it is ordinary people who will be blown to bits. -- Question everything -- Karl Marx
