How deep ‘Hindu terrorism’ goes?

That the Hindu militants are involved in bomb attacks may open a Pandora’s Box for India’s beleaguered security services and become a key voter issue before general elections next year. The investigations into two bomb blasts in Maharashtra’s Muslim-dominated towns of Malegaon and Modasa that killed eight people on September 29 led to the arrest of at least 10 people, including a serving Indian army officer and a Hindu monk and nun. Lt-Col Prasad Shrikant Purohit is accused of providing logistical support for Hindu militants to make bombs. The Press Trust of India reported that he was detained last week at the Army Education Corps Training College in the state of Madhya Pradesh. Two years ago, at least 37 people were killed and more than 125 others injured in bombings at a Muslim graveyard in Malegaon. The same Indian army officer is being investigated over a bomb attack in February 2007 that killed 68 people, mostly Pakistani passengers, on the Delhi-Lahore Samjhauta Express. At least nine other people - including a retired army major, Ramesh Upadhyay - have already been detained in the case.
Purohit, who was doing a foreign language course from the Army Education Corps, Panchmarhi, is said to be a founding member of Abhinav Bharat, a radical Hindu rightwing group. He was remanded in judicial custody till Nov 15. Members of Abhinav Bharat have been linked to the deadly bombing near a mosque in Malegaon The police suspect that Purohit helped the blast accused - Hindu missionary Pragya Thakur, retired army Major Ramesh Upadhyaya and his associate Sharad Kulkarni - in procuring explosives used in the blast. The three are already in police custody.The reports prove the involvement of Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) as it prepares to take on the Congress-led government in both state elections this year and general elections in early 2009. The BJP has been quick to criticize the Congress-led government for being soft on terrorism when it involves Muslims or Pakistan, but critics say it has been less willing to call for a clampdown on Hindu groups in the face of the latest allegations. “In the wake of daily arrests of Hindu terror outfits, the BJP stands exposed,” senior Congress leader Veerappa Moily told the Mail Today. “They cannot take a high moral ground.”Given India’s diversity, a very delicate balance has been maintained,” said security analyst C. Uday Bhaskar. “If it is punctured, we will have very serious internal disturbances, aggravating the internal security of the country.” While many analysts believe this case could be isolated or limited to a small group, some believe it could signal something deeper and more sinister: a growing militant network that believes Muslims and a secular government are threatening what is basically a Hindu nation. It is not just Muslims that are the target. In Orissa state, Hindu groups angry at reports of conversions were blamed for attacks on Christians in August and September. At least 38 people were killed.
“The Hindu terrorist has been formed to retaliate and they are functioning in the atmosphere of hatred politics which runs deep into the social system,” said Amulya Ganguli, apolitical analyst. But while an embarrassment, analysts are divided on whether any revelations about Hindu militants will hurt the BJP. Some see it as an obsession of the chattering classes while millions worry more about inflation, an economic slowdown and a general perception that the government has struggled to bring any one to justice for bombings, regardless of their religion. Defense experts say the arrest of a serving Indian Army officer for his suspected involvement with a terror blast by a Hindu hard-line group is a serious development and the army should act fast to nip such radicalism in the bud. ”Having somebody in uniform involved in terror charges is a very serious issue. On the face of it, it seems to be a one-off case but there may be many others who would be ideologically inclined,” Commodore C. Uday Bhaskar, former director of the Institute of Defence Studies and Analyses (IDSA) told IANS. Bhaskar said even if it was an isolated case, it would set a bad precedent. “It may be in isolation but I will not be complacent about it.
The entire system needs to be alert,” Bhaskar said. Major General (retd) Ashok Mehta said: “The kind of people who have been joining the army is a reflection of society. There are many people in the army who feel the same way. People have to be educated on secular values, especially in the army.” The incident has shocked everyone and some experts see it as an infiltration of Hindu radical groups in the echelons of the army. “ The Indian Army never had such a case when a man has become a terrorist accused. It is a question of the infiltration of radical groups in the Indian Army. The groups have been trying it for long,” Major General (retd) Afsar Karim said. There is another aspect of the face of Hindu terrorism. A letter is published in a leading US paper by one of the Hindu community members residing in the United States. She says the United States has declared war against Islamic terrorism but this stance has encouraged Hindu terrorists and extremists in India. “What US strategic planners do not realize is that the saffron clad (semiliterate and illiterate) saints behind the Hindu extremist movement spearheaded by the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP), the Bajrang Dal and such outfits have a deep hatred of the US and the West, as much as the Islamic fundamentalists. Sooner or later, the US and Europe is going to have to face Hindu terrorists operating out of their soil.” Hinduism, she says, is violently opposed not only to Islam but also Christianity. “The Hindu rightwing extremists want to destroy the secular fabric of India, eliminate Muslims and turn Christians into second class citizens and take the country back into the medieval dark ages of Hinduism. Much of this mad fervor comes from North India which is chockfull of illiterate worshippers now rallying under the militant banners. They seek to demonstrate their militant and violent intent by building temples, razing mosques and churches, killing Christians and forcing Christians nuns to convert. Babri mosque was razed by these extremists on December 6, 1996. The communal conflagration unleashed in Gujarat was but the beginning of the attempt by these extremist, fascist forces to impose a saffron code across modern India and take the land back to a caste-based, feudal setup.” The West, she argues, may be concerned about the strengths of Islam, but Hindu extremism is as backward looking and inimical towards the West as the mullahs are. “Let the US beware in dealing on friendly terms with the Hindu terrorists for short-term gains against the Muslim world. The Hindus will turn against the West sooner than later. A lot of Hindu terrorist/extremist fund-raising outfits operate out of the West, especially the US, spreading a subversive faith and mind-altering techniques among Westerners. This will undermine the civilization of the West in the long run. Who understands this?”
http://pakobserver.net/200811/21/Articles04.asp