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Tuesday, June 17, 2008

Don't brand Muslims as terrorists: RSS & bomb blasts


With the arrest of Hindu Janjagriti Samiti office-bearers for the blast at a theatre in Thane, it has again been proved that members of radical organisations linked to RSS are involved in terror acts. This punctures the attempts of the communal forces who wish to brand Muslims as terrorists.

The fact is that no religion sanctions such terror activities and any of the misguided belonging to any sect or religion could be involved in killing innocents but their acts shouldn't be used to demonise an entire community.

After it was proved that the blasts in Nanded (Maharashtra) were the work of Bajrang Dal activists and that the bomb blasts in Tenkasi (Tamil Nadu) early this year was engineered by Hindu Munnani workers, now comes this latest revelation about those responsible for Thane theatre blast.

The arrest of Ramesh Gadkari and Mangesh Nikam, the activists of Hindu Janajagruti Samiti and Sanatan Samstha by the Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) should come as no surprise. They were upset with film Jodhaa-Akbar and also wanted to protest a Marathi play, which they felt showed Hindu gods in poor light, according to ATS chief Hemant Karkare.

But the truth may be that they would have thought that nobody would suspect a Hindu organisation for the blast. After all, it was not their first act--they had attempted similar blasts in the past also. Read report in Hindustan Times.

Earlier, the activists of Hindu Munnani were arrested for the blasts at RSS office and at the Bus Stand in Tenkasi that was apparently planned to cause a communal clash in the City. Obviously, they believed that the Muslims would be blamed for blast at RSS office.

But Tamil Nadu police nabbed the activists unlike their counterparts in UP and Maharashtra who believed that any blast has to have a Muslim hand. Even the fake beards and topis recovered during the course of investigation were ignored by the local police.

The police often looks askance when it comes to the possibility of involvement of a non-Muslim in the blasts. The blasts in Mecca Masjid and Malegaon where the terrorists had struck on the on Shab-e-Baraat, are yet to be solved.

Home Minister Shivraj Patil had recently stated in the Parliament, replying to a question, that multiple investigative agencies who conducted investigation in the Nanded blasts found the involvement of Bajrang Dal cadre.

Most of us have either received Emails or SMS messages in the past that 'All Muslims are not Terrorists but all Terrorists are Muslims'. The fact is that: A terrorist has NO religion.

And the aim of this post is just to highlight the fact that there is neither a Hindu terrorist nor a Muslim terrorist. Neither a Christian terrorist nor a Sikh terrorist. By identifying terrorism with a religion we also play in the hands of the forces who are involved in such inhuman acts.

Read the news about Tenkasi blasts that was published in The Hindu. I haven't deliberately linked to any website run by Muslims. Ironically, such reports were not published prominently by the mainstream media.

Also, read this report published in Tehelka: 'The Hindu Hand' about involvement of Sangh activists in blasts in the state. RSS is known to have been involved in such acts from the days wheof killing of Mahatma Gandhi. In inquiry reports of several communal, the RSS cadre has been indicted.

Of course, there are Muslim groups who have justified their inhuman acts in the name of Islam. And similar is the case of fundamental organisations belonging to other religions. But we shouldn't let their acts cloud our vision, hijack the religions with their narrow interpretations and let them divide us.