South Asia Citizens Wire
19 September, 2006
Investigation Into Malegaon Blasts
by Ram Puniyani
Investigating the acts of terrorism and pinpointing the culprits is not an easy job. With the prejudiced mindset of the powers that be, it becomes more shrouded in mystery. At times it is purposely derailed as the goal of the authorities is to use it as a pretext for offensive to fulfill their own goals. There are numerous examples of each of these. When one is looking at the investigations into Malegaon blasts on 8th September 2006, on the day of Shab-e-Barat, the explosions near Masjid killing around 40 people, this point becomes more than obvious. While every other thing is being highlighted and the usual suspects are being further demonized through the hard work of communal organizations and media, there is only a small section of media and popular opinion which will bother to state that the organizations like Bajrang Dal also need to be probed and put on the scanner. Bajrang Dal, which has been making bombs, which has been indulging in training of its cadres in gun shooting may be involved in this, does not come out easily from the mouths of those who have memorized the list of organizations like Jaish-e-Mohammad, Al Qaeda and what have you. The large section of media and opinion makers dare not speak this. Even non BJP Governments and non BJP leaders refrain from referring to RSS affiliates' role in terrorism. By now the mass consciousness has been doctored in tune with the goals of US at global level and RSS at local level.
Is there sufficient ground to suspect Bajrang dal? Can this RSS progeny indulge in such acts? In the aftermath of Pastor Stains murder, the then Home Minister L.K. Advani, even in the face of hard evidence, stated that Bajrang dal people cannot be part of this murder. After investigations and long trial Bajrang Dal's Dara Singh is now in jail punished, with death sentence by the courts. Bajrang Dal and even Durga Vahini have been conducting the arms training on regular basis, many times even in the school premises in BJP ruled states. RSS has been keeping up with times; starting from lathis its progenies by now have upgraded their weaponry. On 7th April 2006 at midnight, a powerful bomb exploded in the house of RSS sympathizers, killing two Bajrang dal activists. ATS, chief Suryavanshi did confirm the same. Despite the report from ATS, and citizen's inquiry reports, the state Government neither banned nor touched all those who might have been involved and connected with the blasts. In our democracy some are criminals because they are born in a particular religion, and some can get away with crime because of the privilege of their birth and association with RSS progeny.
The popular opinion, the mass psychology has been so doctored that accepting and projecting Muslims as the culprits has become the norm., and they can rush to catch hold of hundreds of innocent Muslims, as being Muslims is good enough of an evidence of their involvement in crime. The same was witnessed when in the aftermath of burning of S 6 coach in Sabarmati in Godhra, Modi could 'find' within half an hour that International terrorism (read Osama bin Laden) ISI and local Muslims have burnt the train. The formulation fitted so well in the indoctrinated popular psyche that most people bought the version and the genocide could be launched with ease. By the time truth will come out, if at all, the goals of the Modi were well served.
After 9/11, 2001, George W. Bush could also locate that it is Osama bin Laden who has committed this act of terror. Osama, denied it, but the 'consent' which has been manufactured for the political goals of US, was good enough to give sanction to the World Emperor, to launch an attack in Afghanistan and kill thousands of innocents before it could install its puppet Govt in Afghanistan and its companies could lay their hands on the infinite oil wealth in the region.
It is difficult to explain the lethargic response of the police and the Govt in the face of the 7th April 2006 blasts in Nanded. Even now, while headlines galore about Malegaon, restraint is being exercised in spelling out Bajrang Dal's possible role. A large section of media is not daring to demand the arrest, interrogation of the RSS affiliates who are the guardians of Bajrang Dal. A lot is being talked about POTA being the solution to the problem of terrorism. One knows that it is just a ploy to strengthen the hands of machinery to arrest as many innocents as possible, without any answerability. The incidents of terror were no less when POTA was operative. And one knows there are enough laws which can be of help in prosecuting the criminals as is clear in the cases of murders of Indira and Rajiv Gandhi, where guilty could be prosecuted, without any recourse to such laws.
Also what is sought to be addressed is the superficial symptom of terrorism; tighten the security, more checks, more arbitrary powers to the authorities etc. Most of the acts of terror have underlying agenda. There are multiple reasons for some taking the insane path of terror and terrorist groups can be classified in two broad categories. The first category is of those which are the outcome of the deeper dissatisfactions and injustices at social, economic and political level. The second category is of those which have been consciously indoctrinated. The Al Qaeda began as an indoctrinated group, by CIA to fight against the Afghan occupation by Soviet armies. Bajrang Dal also falls in the indoctrinated one, rooted in the RSS combine's ideology of Hindu Rashtra, which promotes hatred for minorities.
The origin of the one's like the some militants of Kashmir and the LTTE are rooted in injustices, and while the one's of North East are rooted in the ethnic turmoil's. While vociferous debaters talk about eradicating terrorism by wars, the basic issue is forgotten. The US war on terror is a decoy to attack the oil rich zones. The surprise is not that US is using this terminology, surprise is that this has been accepted. Can there be a war on terror? Terrorism by its nature is not a phenomenon which can be easily identified physically. War can be against physical entities not abstract phenomenon. The terrorist outfits are generally working underground, barring the ones which have state patronage or the one's which the state dare not ban due to other political reasons. One can see the heads of states shaking hands and vowing to join the war against terror, which is very much in line with what the US-UK axis wants. As such, terrorism is a symptom, while the imperialist lust for oil and the agenda of the religion based nation hood, are the major diseases which are at the root of problem of terrorism.