Jan 22 2011
by Irfan Engineer
Much has been reported in the media about the confession of Swami Aseemanand regarding the role of certain individuals associated with RSS and Abhinav Bharat in terrorism and bomb blasts in Malegaon in 2006, in Ajmer, Mecca Masjid in Hyderabad and other places. However, the more serious implications of the terror activities of the groups and individuals involved have not yet been put in the public domain. Swami Aseemanand’s confessions before a Judicial Magistrate (which is admissible as evidence) only reveals partial facts at best. Kaleemuddin’s love for the Swami could not transform him completely after all. Let us have a brief recall of what the Swami has disclosed after he was informed in open court of the grave implications of his disclosure by the Judicial Magistrate and was made to go back to his cell and reflect on the implications. The Swami has only given a sketchy account of what Sunil Joshi, who was a RSS functionary, told the Swami about his (Joshi’s) or his men’s involvement in the terror attacks. The Swami then confesses that he gave twenty five thousand rupees to Sunil Joshi on his claims. The Swami does not appear to be a star witness to the offence of terror attacks. He is only witness to what Sunil Joshi claimed before him. One or two more individuals are named who had conversations with him. The Swami may be aware that at the most such confession even though before a Judicial Magistrate may be treated as hear say evidence implicating a dead man. Swami’s confessions may at the most be useful to secure bail for the Muslim youth who have been implicated in the Malegaon and other terror attacks.
Let us now have a peep into what the Swami is highly likely to have known and whose material particulars have been with held by him. The Swami settled in the Dangs District sometime in late nineties and was closely linked with the Sangh Parivar and Vishwa Hindu Parishad. In 1998 there was attack on Churches and Christian institutions in the Dangs District, to be precise on 24th December in that year. Could the Swami have been ignorant on the motives the organization/s and individual/s involved in the attack in a small District with less than one and a half lakh population where he settled down chosing it to be his karmabhoomi? Whom is the Swami saving? Himself? The Swami was well connected at the highest political level in Gujarat and therefore in spite of attack on Christians and his provocative statements full of hatred against Christians and Muslims, he was given permission to organize Shabri Kumbh Mela in Dang and who’s who of the Sangh Parivar was in attendance at the Shabri Kumbh. Just as the Swami revealed the role of a dead man in the terror attacks, he could have revealed the information he was privy to about the 2002 genocide and the people he was involved. After all he had access to highest political offices in Gujarat and has often been pictured to be sitting in their company. May be he was not asked by the investigators to reveal information as they were investigating just bomb blasts in few places.
The Swami could have given much better material particulars about the meetings, the individuals involved, the proceedings at the planning meetings about the ultimate objectives of the blasts which was not to take revenge for the bomb attacks in temples and other places targeting Hindus, and which in turn were to take revenge for various communal riots targeting Muslims. The investigators have recovered from the computers belonging to Dayanand Pandey, Col. Purohit and others files recording the minutes of the meetings of Abhinav Bharat which reveal their real objectives. Christopher Jafferlot, a academic of repute, has reproduced some of the conversations in the meetings of Abhinav Bharat in his article in the Economic and Political Weekly. From these conversations it is clear that Col. Purohit and other members of Abhinav Bharat were in fact trying to overthrow the Indian state that has been established by law. Christopher Jafferlots article in the EPW quotes the report of Col. Purohit in one of the meetings that they have been able to establish links with the Israeli Military establishment which has agreed to train 400 soldiers every year for Abhinav Bharat’s war and that he has sufficient equipments and resources. All Col. Purohit wanted from others in the meeting was proper selection of targets for maximum impact. The terror attacks were testing the military strength and capability of the group and keeping them fighting fit, Muslims being soft targets. How realistic were the objectives and how far they were is another issue but the group had a proper road map to their destination – Akhand Bharat – a militarized authoritarian state structure subsuming Afghanistan, Pakistan, Tibet, Myanmar. They were hopeful of support from the Buddhist Majority countries in South East Asia and Israel. The more the supporters of Hindu Rashtra stigmatize Islam and Muslims, the more they emulate them and they emulate the worst amongst them – the so called Jihadis. The priorities of the BJP Governments in Chhattisgarh and MP are warped. While state used its entire might against Binayak Sen, the groups like Abhinav Bharat were allowed to flourish.
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