*Terror a religion? Faith shaken by blast probe* *Sun, Nov 16, 2008 * http://ibnlive.in.com/news/terror-a-religion-faith-shaken-by-blast-probe/78247-3.html
[image: SHADES OF TERROR: Is it fair to use the term 'Hindu terror' for what's unraveling in Malegaon probe?] *SHADES OF TERROR: Is it fair to use the term 'Hindu terror' for what's unraveling in Malegaon probe?* <http://ibnlive.in.com/videos/78247/11_2008/weekend1511_1/terror-a-religion-faith-shaken-by-blast-probe.html> <http://ibnlive.in.com/videos/78247/11_2008/weekend1511_1a/terror-a-religion-faith-shaken-by-blast-probe.html> <http://ibnlive.in.com/videos/78247/11_2008/weekend1511_1b/terror-a-religion-faith-shaken-by-blast-probe.html> <http://ibnlive.in.com/videos/78247/11_2008/weekend1511_1c/terror-a-religion-faith-shaken-by-blast-probe.html> It's a terror investigation that's shaking a people's faith. The Malegaon blast probe, in which the Maharashtra ATS has so far arrested 10 people including an armyman, is taking sinister twists every day. In the net are several Hindu right wing leaders and the big dilemma for the BJP and the Sangh Parivar remains whether or not to support the terror accused. Following are the 10 big names under arrest *Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur (38):* A native of Indore. The motorcycle on which the bomb exploded in Malegaon allegedly belonged to her. She was arrested on October 24. *Shivnarayan Kalsangra (36):* A native of Indore, he is said to be an expert from the electrical and mechanical field. He was arrested on October 24. - *Full coverage: Scary saffron?*<http://topics.ibnlive.com/Malegaon+blasts.html> *Shyam Bhavarlal Sahu (42):* A native of Indore, he runs a mobile shop. He was arrested on October 24 *Sameer Kulkarni (34):* Former member of *ABVP* and a co-founder of *Abhinav Bharat*. He was arrested on October 28. *Retired Major Ramesh Upadhyay (57):* A resident of Pune. He was arrested on October 28. *Lieutenant Colonel Srikant Purohit (37):* He was stationed in Pachmarhi; Arrested on November 5. *Ajay Rahirkar (41):* The treasurer of *Abhinav Bharat*; He was arrested on November 2 *Jagdish Mhatre (40):* Resident of Dombivali, Mumbai and Member of *Abhinav Bharat*. Arrested on November 2 *Rakesh Dhawade (42):* An expert in arms and armaments; Arrested on November 2 *Dayanand Pandey (40):* self-styled Shankaracharya from UP. Arrested on November 12 So in the light of the arrests of these 10 people, all of who owe allegiance to right wing Hindu organistaions, is it fair to use the term Hindu terror? That was the big question raised on the Weekend Edition with Rajdeep Sardesai. BJP MP and Editor-in-Chief of *The Pioneer*, Chandan Mitra; Congress spokesperson Manish Tiwari and Lt General (Retd) V G Patankar debated the issue. Chandan Mitra kicked off the debate by expressing his strong disapproval at the usage of the word "Hindu terror". He said the terror charge against "whoever" (Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur and Lt Col Srikant Prasad Purohit) has not been proved. "They are a series of accusations and allegations with no evidence. I think the entire thing has been done with a political purpose and to call it Hindu terror is like equating what's been happening in India with the rest of the world," he said. *Politician vs politician* While the stand of the BJP and its supporters is very clear, the Congress stand seems interesting. While a section of the party is slamming the Sangh Parivar and the hardline Hindu groups, the other section has maintained a studied silence fearing, perhaps, a Hindu polarization in the upcoming elections. Manish Tiwari, however, said the party line was clear. "Congress never believed there was any Hindu or Muslim terror because terror has no religion or creed," he said. While making the stand of his party clear, Tiwari took a dig at the BJP and said while the party was going hammer and tongs about the various terror attacks in the country, it's suddenly gone silent on the recent disclosures. "BJP as a responsible party should have come out upfront and said if any of the people who are affliated with us and are found to be involved should be punished according to law," he said. The argument wasn't without logic. BJP president Rajnath Singh came out openly in defence of the Sadhvi, saffron motor-mouth Praveen Togadia too defended the accused and the VHP went a step further and said a Hindu can never be a terrorist. How fair is that? Mitra responded by saying the BJP will happily let the law take its course. "If the government had shows 1/10th of the alacrity and determination when it came to cracking other cases as they have shown in this case, nobody would have made an accused," he alleged. But Tiwari would have none of it. He said it was UPA government that helped crack the other blast cases and Batla House encounter was also its initiative. Mitra retorted by saying by that logic, the government should take initiative and even Afzal guru should be hanged. The debate then went into a rigmarole of arguments about bureaucracy and politics of death sentences. Mitra maintained the party's stand was that a terrorist is a terrorist and has no religion, ironical, considering all senior BJP leaders have come out openly in support of those accused. Mitra also said legal aid should be provided to the ones accused. However, he had nothing to say when the same argument was made about those accused in the Batla House encounter. "When the Jamia V-C spoke of providing legal aid to terrorists, he wanted state funds to do so. This is obviously objectionable," he defended. Bu what about the photographs of the Sadhivi taken with the BJP top brass? "There are a large number of extremist people who began their political career in Congress. We shouldn't go into that," he said, adding the ATS should go to court instead of leaking out selective information to various segments of the media. Gen Patankar joined in the debate at this juncture. He said the alleged involvement of Lt Col Purohit was an isolated case. He summed up his argument in three points. "Army is an extension of the society and is not completely insulated. So whatever happens in society, Army cannot be completely cut away. Whether its breach of discipline, acts of omission or commission or any such thing and it exceeds the percentage of what happens in society, then there's a need to worry about it," he said. But Patankar dismissed the suggestion as ridiculous that because the Armymen work in insurgency-infested areas, they may be prompted into taking law into their hand. "The foundation of Army is disciple," he insisted and said Army will not play an arbiter to whether the government has failed. *Tit-for-tat terror?* There's also an argument of tit-for-tat terror, that because there's Islamic terror, the so-called Hindu terror is in retaliation to that. In fact, Shiv Sena's Bal Thackeray even said in an article earlier this year that " the need of the hour is to plant a powerful bomb in the Bangladeshi bastis that are coming up to avenge the blast in Thane". Mitra said if such a mindset takes root, it could result in a bloodbath. "You know the kind of statements Thackeray makes and I don't associate myself with that at all," he said. Over the past few years, many Indian states – some of them ruled by the Congress – have witnessed terror attacks. But the Congress has been able to do very little about it. CBI chargesheet into the Nanded blasts was seen to be watered down. But suddenly in an election year, Congress seems to have galvanised itself. Manish Tiwari wrapped up the debate and said on terror, politicians needed to rise above party lines. "Let's try and evolve a bi-partisanship on terror as it's too serious a business to be kicked around like a football," he said. Patankar concluded by expressing hope that politicians would unite against terror and also said that Army as an institution will never let frustration get the better of it and indulge in any such activities. [image: LINK GETS STRONGER: Malegaon bomb blast case prime accused Lt Col P S Purhot being taken to court.] ATS links Lt Col Purohit with Samjhauta blasts<http://www.ibnlive.com/news/ats-links-lt-col-purohit-with-samjhauta-blasts/78233-3.html> Prime accused in Malegaon bomb blast case Lt Col P S Purohit was also directly involved with 2007's twin Samjhauta Express blasts that killed 68 people and injured 50, Anti-Terror Squad of Maharashtra Police told a Nashik Court on Saturday.
