Editorial in Economic Times dt 22nd July, 2010 RSS and Terror
The contradiction between the RSS’ top leaders averring that the organisation would not support or defend any members involved in terrorist activities, and the emergence of fresh allegations linking yet more members, including one from the RSS’ top decision making body, underlines both the problem the RSS itself faces and the one it posits for the BJP, its political arm. Of course, establishing the degree of veracity and truth of these allegations has to be left to the investigations. But so far, links have been unearthed between Hindu extremist groups and RSS members and the blasts on the Samjhauta Express and those in Hyderabad, Ajmer, Malegaon and Goa. The question is whether the RSS really believed or thought that its wider ideological beliefs and practices, based on jingoism and hatred stemming from its narrow and sectarian interpretations of concepts of history, identity and nationhood, could not lead to its members committing acts of terror. It is precisely such interpretations of those concepts that drives the Islamic extremists at home and abroad — the difference being one of scale and expertise in implementing terror plots, not of the terror itself. The issue, therefore, isn’t solely that a few fringe elements may be involved in terrorist activities, but that there is a wider context of communal hatred and fundamentalism behind such attacks. The point is that, if terrorism is to be defeated, in all its forms, then it also involves tackling and targeting communal hatred and polarisation. Thus, the other big question is how far can the BJP, the major opposition party, afford to be steered by an organisation whose ideology is linked to terror and whose organisational links to terror acts is under active investigation. And can sheer political, even electoral, compulsions force the BJP, at some point, to re-examine its umbilical cord-connection with the RSS? Can it afford not to? While hardline, even extreme, views can exist in a democracy, violence is immanent in attempts to insert those views into society and the workings of the state. http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/opinion/editorial/RSS-and-terror/articleshow/6198993.cms * * * The book people are already talking about: Goanetter Selma Carvalho's *Into the Diaspora Wilderness*. Launch on July 25, 2010 at the UK Goan Festival [http://goafest.itpsworld.net] Goa launch next month. See http://selmacarvalho.squarespace.com/ Buy at Broadway's, Panjim [Ph 9822488564] at Rs 295 in Goa. Overseas, postage extra. * * *
