Mail Today, 19 January 2009
THE HINDUTVA TERRORISTS’ MASTERPLAN
‘Hindutva terrorists’ wanted a Taliban- like overrun by 2024
HINDUTVA terror suspects, now in police custody for their alleged role in bombing Muslim localities including Malegaon, had a much larger socio- political agenda. They had planned a Taliban- like takeover of the country by 2024.
An anti- terrorist squad ( ATS) investigator preparing the Malegaon chargesheet, which is expected to be filed in court on Tuesday, said there is evidence of a deeper conspiracy by the accused to unseat the liberal Indian Constitution and install a hardline Hindutva instead.
The bombings seem to be just minor events to motivate proponents of the Godse- Savarkar stream of Hindutva, still favoured by many Sangh Parivar activists such as the accused Pragya Thakur and Sameer Kulkarni. The attempt, police sources say, was to motivate Parivar radicals across the country and form a cohesive Hindutva army to defeat democratic forces.
ATS sources insist that co- accused Dayanand Pandey — the fake shankaracharya — had recorded Lt Col Prasad Shrikant Purohit telling the core group of conspirators: “ We will take over the country by 2024.” Purohit, who was part of the military intelligence when he was arrested, was also heard saying, “ I don’t have any faith in the Indian Constitution.” The investigators have seized five hours of Pandey’s recording of various meetings and speeches. The one in which Purohit was pushing the Hindutva agenda could have been recorded at a meeting in Faridabad or Nasik early last year. Purohit’s face is not visible in the video, but the investigators are prepared to do a forensic voice analysis.
An official source pointed out that the forensic analysis would become necessary because Pandey was discreetly recording his co- conspirators, “ So, some people are visible, but others are not in the frame. We, however, don’t foresee any problem in nailing Purohit as we are planning to go in for forensic voice data analysis for him and others.” A similar exercise was done by the US investigators to prove the involvement of Zarar Shah and Zaki ur Rehman Lakhvi in the 26/ 11 Mumbai terror strike case.
It is, however, not clear whether the accused are being charged for “ waging war against the state”. Special public prosecutor Rohini Salian was noncommittal about the transcript of Purohit’s speech and the punitive measures it would invite. “ The chargesheet will be filed on January 20.
You will come to know everything then,” is all Salian would say.
Purohit, though, has refused to admit his role in the conspiracy. “ He was shocked when we first told him about these conversations. It was obvious that he too didn’t know about the recording. However, he has since recovered and now claims that he could have said all that without meaning it or doing anything,” said a police officer.
The investigating agency has already told the MCOCA court about various recordings of conversations in which the accused are seen discussing bomb- making.
Though police have not made the political connections of the accused an issue and have not even tried to trace the known Sangh Parivar affiliation of many of the accused, the investigators are aware of the group’s political agenda.
“ It’s not just these statements. We found loads of other incriminating material that show that the blasts were not just acts of violence against the minorities but to bring about a change in the country. The conversations in the laptop show that Savarkar’s Abhinav Bharat was rediscovered with this objective in mind,” said the police official.
Police are sure that Purohit and his co- accused have inspired many Hindutva leaders across the country.
Some of them have brainwashed the conspirators, while others have provided the logistics. They claim that, “ One such high profile Parivar leader is on the run”. Apart from the laptop, ATS has over 20 witnesses and evidence such as weapons and cash recovered from the accused.
The ATS is also looking for one Praveen Mutalik, an Abhinav Bharat functionary, who could have been part of the bomb planting team.
krishna.kumar@mailtoday.in
