*Malegaon blasts: More Sangh activists held* Tuesday, October 28, 2008 http://news.in.msn.com/national/article.aspx?cp-documentid=1687983
*New Delhi: It's becoming difficult for the Sangh Parivar to distance itself from the Malegaon and Modasa blasts as more of its people and organisations are arrested or named for involvement by Maharashtra police investigators. *The Maharashtra Anti-Terrorist Squad has so far arrested three people and questioned six in connection with the blasts that killed six on September 29. All of them were said be linked to the Parivar. Pragya Singh Thakur, one of those arrested, was a former national leader of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh's student wing Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad. Sameer Kulkarni, one-time RSS pracharak and worker of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad, and S.S. Raikar, commandant at the Sangh-affiliated Bhonsala Miltary School in Nashik, were being investigated by the Maharashtra police. Major (rtd) Ramesh Upadhyaya, who once headed the BJP ex-service cell in Mumbai, is also under the scanner. Though BJP leaders protest the use of *"Hindu terrorism"* for the attacks, they are largely defensive on the issue. But they also hope to make the most of it. *"This will help us through a consolidation of Hindu votes,"* a leader said. The Congress, which had been under attack for being soft on terrorism, believes it has the BJP on the mat. *"This is only the tip of the iceberg,"* said spokesperson Abhishek Manu Singhvi. *"More evidence is likely to emerge and the Congress shall continue to highlight the abhorrent involvement of the RSS and BJP in terrorism."* Sadhvi's father observing vow of silence *Ahmedabad: The father of Sadhvi Pragya Thakur, the prime accused in the Malegaon bomb blast case, is observing 'maun vrat' (vow of silence) and will not speak to anyone for three days, said a relative here on Monday. * The relative of Sadhvi's father Chandrapal Thakur told IANS, "Whatever it is, you will have to speak to him on Oct 30, when he will have completed his period of silence." The Sadhvi is also observing a 'maun vrat' and not replying to queries by sleuths. A court in Nashik Monday granted permission to the Anti Terrorism Squad of Maharashtra Police to conduct narco tests and other scientific procedures on her. She was arrested last week along with Shivnarayan Singh and Shyam Bhavarlal Sahu for alleged involvement in the Malegaon bomb blast in which five people were killed. +++++++++++ *Sadhvi arrested, spoils BJP's Diwali a bit* *Mon, Oct 27, 2008* ** *[image: COURTING CONTROVERSY: More questions for the saffron brigade as police seek the court's permission for brain mapping of Sadhvi.]* *COURTING CONTROVERSY: More questions for the saffron brigade as police seek the court's permission for brain mapping of Sadhvi. ***<http://ibnlive.in.com/videos/76864/sadhvi-arrested-spoils-bjps-diwali-a-bit.html> * < -- Watch Video* New Delhi: It's the most damning controversy that could have hit the BJP. Literally on the eve of elections in Madhya Pradesh, a video showing Sadhvi Pragya Thakur - the prime accused in Malegaon blasts - together with MP Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chauhan and BJP President Rajnath Singh shot at a condolence meet of a BJP MLA from MP in February this year - has become cannon fodder for the Congress to target the BJP of promoting Hindu terror. BJP leader, Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi - in an attempt to troubleshoot - said, *"The only thing we know about her is that she was with the ABVP till 1996." *Congress MP, Rashid Alvi however had something completely different to say: *"This shows that the BJP is a communal party." *There are indications that there could be more trouble for the BJP for following the Sadhavi's interrogation, two others have also been detained. Sources say Sameer Kulkarni - belonging to an organisation called Abhinav Bharat - was picked for questioning in Bhopal, and Shashikala Shasri a former president of Durga Vahini, the women's wing of the Sangh Parivar, was held in Indore. Both were detained by the Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad and have been taken to Mumbai. Kulkarni and Shastri allegedly procured bomb material and provided logistical support to those behind the Malegaon and Modasa blasts. The ATS also raided a house in Jabalpur the Sadhavi used to visit regularly. But in some relief for the Sangh Parivar, the MP Police is in no mood to let the sadhavi's arrest tar the image of the saffron combine. Madhya Pradesh DGP, Santosh Raut said, "There is no evidence to show that the RSS is involved in any of this." But the lady who is leading the agitation against the BJP, is a former BJP leader herself - Uma Bharti, who won a landslide for the BJP last time around and is now struggling to make a mark for herself. She is accusing her former party of not being sympathetic to the cause of its own workers. *"The party which claims to fight for Hindutva, wants to wash its hands off the episode. It shows who they really are," *says Uma Bharti. For Shivraj Singh Chauhan, considered too young by many, the weeks in the run up to the polls are literally going to be a trial by fire. Meanwhile, protests were taken out by a youth organisation who burnt effigies of Maharashtra Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh and Union Home Minister Shivraj Patil. The Vadodara Youth Group's leader, Kunal Patel, is demanding that the Sadhvi should not be branded as a Hindu terrorist. The group has also issued a warning to two cabinet ministers. --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ Nor can Goodness and Evil be equal. Repel (evil) with what is better; then the enmity between him and you will become as if it were your friend and intimate! 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