Good days are here for the Hindu Right Wing - Samjhauta train bombing accused Swami Aseemanand Out on Bail

Samjhauta blast accused Swami Aseemanand granted bail by High Court
Express News Service | Chandigarh | August 28, 2014

Summary
Aseemanand was arrested by NIA on December 26, 2012 in connection with the Samjhauta Express blast case.


Swami Aseemanand, one of the accused in the Samjhauta Express blast case, was on Thursday granted bail by the Punjab and Haryana High Court. A division bench comprising Justice SS Saron and Justice Liza Gill passed the orders on the application moved by the accused saint.

Aseemanand was arrested by NIA on December 26, 2012 in a case which was registered on July 26, 2007, following a blast in the Samjhauta Express near Panipat.

Swami Aseemanand and three co-accused for their alleged involvement in the Samjhauta Express train blast in 2007 were charged with murder and sedition.

The charges were framed under Section 120-B (conspiracy), 302 (murder), 307 (attempt to murder), 124-A (sedition), 438 (punishment for mischief with intent to destroy a decked vessel with explosive substance) and 440 (mischief committed after preparation made for causing death), of the IPC.

Sections under which charges were framed include Section 151 (destruction of certain railway properties), 153 (endangering safety of persons traveling by railway by willful act) of the Railways Act, Section 3 (punishment for causing explosion likely to endanger life or property) and 4 (punishment for attempt to cause explosion or keeping explosive with intent to endanger life or property) of the Explosive Substances Act.

http://indianexpress.com/article/india/india-others/samjhauta-blast-accused-swami-aseemanand-granted-bail-by-high-court/

India: Bodhgaya Bomb Blasts - Moving Beyond the 'Usual Suspects'

by subhash gatade

I.
Encore !
Mr Praveen Swamy has 'discovered' the 'usual suspects' once again.
Narrating .'[t]he same old, depressing story of incompetence and apathy' behind the Bodh Gaya bombings he has shared with the readers how "[I]ndia’s police and intelligence services knew there were plots to attack the temple." and how ".. jihadists quite publicly announced they intended to attack Buddhist targets. ..From January, government sources have told Firstpost, the Intelligence Bureau had issued several warnings pointing to heightened risks to Buddhist religious targets in India, as a consequence of anti-Muslim violence in Myanmar." ((http://www.firstpost.com/india/bodh-gaya-bombings-why-were-so-many-warnings-ignored-935233.html)
Of course, after giving enough hints about who the perpetrators could be, he has been careful enough to add - supposedly to maintain objectivity of his profession that
"It’s too early to come to conclusions on who the perpetrators might have been—unlike Internet conspiracy theorists, who’ll be blaming everyone from Islamists to the intelligence services themselves in coming hours. Criminal investigators need evidence, not guesses about motives. There are some pieces of evidence already available, though."
Readers of his erstwhile employer namely 'The Hindu' group of publications can vouch that it is not for the first time that he has done it. They have been witness to his similar write ups, providing enough juicy details of the cross-border connections of these terrorists, after every such terror attack. It is a different matter that later it turned out that many of these write ups were pure work of fiction as it was discovered that the actual perpetrators were Hindutva terrorists only. e.g. Any independent reader can see for herself/himself what Praveen Swamy had written about say Mecca Masjid blasts, Ajmer Sharief blasts and Samjhauta Express bomb blasts (all in the Year 2007) and what were the conclusions of the investigators later.
Any cursory glance at the media scene in this country can make it clear that Praveen Swami is not an exception.
It is important to remember this fact because with the bomb blast at Bodh Gaya, the place where Gautama Buddha is said to have obtained Enlightenment and which is the most important of the main four pilgrimage sites related to the life of Gautama Buddha - the remaining being Lumbini, Sarnath and Kushinagar - the whole debate around terrorism has entered a much difficult terrain.
II
One expects added caution on part of any of the experts / commentators for another important reason as well. It has been widely reported how in two of our neighbouring countries - namely Burma and Sri Lanka - Buddhist extremists have unleashed a wave of terror against the hapless Muslims. And any such news without proper confirmation that Bodh Gaya, has come under attack of Jihadi terrorists, can make matters more difficult for the minority Muslims there.
According to conservative estimates more than ten thousand people - mostly Muslims have died in Burma where a campaign of ethnic cleansing is underway since 2012 (http://www.hrw.org/news/2013/04/22/burma-end-ethnic-cleansing-rohingya-muslims), The 153-page report brought out by Human Rights Watch , '‘All You Can Do is Pray’: Crimes Against Humanity and Ethnic Cleansing of Rohingya Muslims in Burma’s Arakan State,” describes the role of the Burmese government and local authorities in the forcible displacement of more than 125,000 Rohingya and other Muslims and the ongoing humanitarian crisis. Burmese officials, community leaders, and Buddhist monks organized and encouraged ethnic Arakanese backed by state security forces to conduct coordinated attacks on Muslim neighborhoods and villages in October 2012 to terrorize and forcibly relocate the population. The tens of thousands of displaced have been denied access to humanitarian aid and been unable to return home.
A newspaper like 'Guardian' had done a story on ' Buddhist monk uses racism and rumours to spread hatred in Burma' (18 April 2013, http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/apr/18/buddhist-monk-spreads-hatred-burma)
"His name is Wirathu, he calls himself the "Burmese Bin Laden" and he is a Buddhist monk who is stoking religious hatred across Burma.
The saffron-robed 45-year-old regularly shares his hate-filled rants through DVD and social media, in which he warns against Muslims who "target innocent young Burmese girls and rape them", and "indulge in cronyism"..."
...
"Rising to prominence in 2001, when he created a nationalist campaign to boycott Muslim businesses, Wirathu was jailed for 25 years in 2003 for inciting anti-Muslim hatred but freed in 2010 under a general amnesty.
Since his release, Wirathu has gone back to preaching hate. Many believe his words inspired the fighting last June between Buddhists and ethnic Rohingya Muslims in Rakhine state, where 200 people were killed and more than 100,000 displaced."

Or look at Sri Lanka, emboldened by the suppression of the Tamil nationality struggle more than three years back, the Sinhala Buddhist extremists, who happen to be the main pillar of President Mahinda Rajapakse, have begun to persecute country's Muslim minority. An outfit named Bodu Bala Sena (BBS - ‘the Army of Buddhist Power’), formed last July in Colombo, is engaged in systematically demonising Muslims, accusing them of eroding Sri Lanka’s Buddhist heritage. And as one witnesses violence has been promised unto the Muslims. The stray examples described below are an indicator in which directions winds are blowing. Way back in January, right wing Sinhala groups stormed a Law College in Colomb, claiming that its examination results were doctored to favour Muslims
They have called for mosques and dargahs to be razed, ostensibly for being situated too close to Buddhist temples; in the ancient capital of Anuradhapura, during one of these demolition drives, a photographer captured a monk burning a green Islamic pennant that he had pulled out of a dargah’s rubble. The Bodu Bala Sena has closed down Muslim-owned butcheries, attacked a popular Muslim-owned clothing store in Colombo, and forced the government to ban the certification of halal meat; other groups have painted pigs on the walls of mosques. In the town of Dambulla last year, when the chief priest of a local Buddhist temple led a protest to “relocate” a mosque, he warned in the process: “Today we came with a Buddhist flag in hand. But the next time, it will be different.”
(See more at: http://caravanmagazine.in/perspectives/spoils-victory)
III.
A point worth consideration is to look at this particular blast in a more detached way and see for oneself who 'gains' from a 'blast' at this juncture.
Let us take a trip down memory lane and see for oneself what one wants to convey. The Samjhauta Express bomb blast occurred in February 2007 which killed more than 67 people, mostly Pakistanis and which was initially blamed on Islamic terrorists and which was later discovered to be the handiwork of Hindutva terrorists. One may recall that foreign secretary of Pakistan was to reach India merely two days after the tragic blasts and there were news in the paper that the peace process between India and Pakistan would get a new boost with this visit. As expected this bomb blast and the consequent blame game, had a very negative impact on the peace overtures. Thus we can infer that those forces who were opposed to normalisation of relations between the two countries were to 'benefit' from this incident.
Coming to the present juncture, one can see that the saffron camp, despite appointment of its 'most successful Chief Minister' as campaign committee chief, finds itself on the defensive on various fronts.
Forget the Rambo act of 'rescuing' 15,000 Gujaratis from Uttarakhand which added enough egg on their face, or their internal infighting evident to everyone with one of its topmost leaders sending his resignation from different posts as he found himself marginalised in the party ; at political level, it stands further isolated because of Nitish Kumar's exit from NDA and the BJP led alliance getting reduced to merely a three party alliance, with no new entrants ready to join this faltering ship. Perhaps the big news is the ongoing investigation in the Ishrat Jahan encounter case under the supervision of the Gujarat highcourt, which has led to the unprecedented situation where many IPS level officers of the Gujarat cadre have been chargesheeted and one amongst them is found to be absconding and the possibility that in its supplementary chargsheet few of the political leaders involved in the case getting targeted. One of the accused DIG Vanzara, who is lodged in jail since 2007 for his role in Sohrabuddin encounter case, is reported to have said that he has talked to Safed Dhadi ( white beard supposedly referring to Narendra Modi) and black Dhadi ( black beard supposedly referring to his close confidant Amit Shah) about this particular ‘operation’. In fact, one of the witnesses to the case, who happens to be a police officer himself in his statement before a magistrate under article 164 which is admissible as evidence is reported to have made such a statement.
To summarise while 24 7 journos have finally 'declared' that the perpetrators are 'Jihadis' just on the basis of few statements made by Al Qaeda or Hafeez Saeed or some IB alerts ( which itself has come under cloud because of the inputs in provided for Ishrat encounter), an alternate reading of the whole act looks more plausible. Look at the various terror acts since last few years and see how they could dramatically change the discourse. And with planners and masterminds of the Hindutva terror still roaming free, it seems possible that some such Hindutva terrorists or some rogue Pracharak (wholetimer) from the RSS fraternity who have gathered enough experience in the last decade by their involvement in various terror acts, could have put his expertise to use in this particular case with due help rendered by some similar rogue elements from the IB, which also finds itself on the defensive in the Ishrat Jahan case.
Perhaps a newsitem which appeared in mainstream media could be pointer to the unfolding conspiracy.
A day after serial blasts rocked the Mahabodhi temple complex in Bihar’s Gaya district, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Monday interrogated one person detained in connection with the incident. A team of the central agency arrived in Gaya to investigate the case.
Based on a bag found in the temple premises, the police detained Vinod Mistri, resident of the Barachatti block in Gaya. “Vinod was picked up based on certain information. His photo identity card was found in the temple premises,” Abhayanand, Director General of Police, told reporters here. Deputy Inspector General of Police Nayyar Hasnain Khan told The Hindu that Vinod is a carpenter who made small furniture.
The bag found contained a monk’s robe, a piece of paper with some mobile numbers, medical papers and a voter identity card belonging to Vinod. “He is not a monk. So the NIA is investigating why he was carrying the robe,” a police source told The Hindu...
(NIA questions man for Bodh Gaya blasts, Patna, 8 July 2013, http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/other-states/nia-questions-man-for-bodh-gaya-blasts/article4894131.ece)

The press statement released by 'Rihai Manch' - a forum for the Release of Innocent Muslims Imprisoned in the name of Terrorism, which is on Dharna (sit in) in front of UP assembly for the last fifty days to bring Khalid Mujahid's killers to justice - who was killed in police custody - tries to join the dots and points to a conspiracy hatched by the 'Hindutva brigade in association with IB' to wriggle itself out of the mess in which it finds itself.
According to their press release ".the manner in which one finds mention of a name called Vinod Mistry in this case and the way in which we are finding that clothes normally worn by Buddhist monks were discovered from his possession and the manner in which letters in Urdu were discovered from the temple, it rather vindicates that it was an attempt to stage 'Malegaon' in Bodhgaya where fake beard was found out and where due to wrong/biased inputs many innocent Muslims were lodged in jail for quite sometime till real culprits belonging to RSS were discovered"
Posing a question 'why Hindutva terror groups were kept out of this investigation' it pointed out the duplicity of IB in no uncertain terms. According to them while investigating agencies have no qualms in stigmatising 'Girls Islamic Organisation' active in Maharashtra as a 'terrorist organisation' and are later forced to eat their words but turn a blind eye to the 'open arms training undertaken by Durga Vahini, an affiliated organisation of RSS, many of whose activists have been found to be involved in terror acts and are languishing in jail.'
Would it be asking for too much that a thorough investigation be done in this case and not only the pawns involved in the case but their patrons are also apprehended.

Two Best Bakery accused arrested for Ajmer Sharif blast

The Times of India
TNN | May 5, 2013, 03.07 AM IST

VADODARA: Two people accused in the Best Bakery case of 2002 and also wanted in the 2007 Ajmer Sharif blast case were nabbed by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) and the city police in a joint operation near the city on Friday night. With the fresh arrests, four people from the city—all accused in the Best Bakery case—have been arrested for the blast.

Jayanti Gohil and his son Ramesh Gohil had been hiding in Kashipur village of Waghodiya taluka. The NIA had been on their trail for some time now and cops of the agency had been camping in Vadodara for the past few days.

Vadodara police commissioner Satish Sharma said that the accused had been arrested and tried by a local court for the Best Bakery case but they had been absconding after the Supreme Court ordered a retrial. Those on the run after the retrial was ordered included Jayanti, Ramesh, Mafat Gohil and Harshad Solanki.

Fourteen people were killed by a mob on March 1, 2002 in the Best Bakery case. All the 21 accused were acquitted by a fast-track court in Vadodara but later nine people were convicted after a retrial in Mumbai. Five of these were later acquitted by the Bombay high court and four were given life terms.

Harshad was arrested by Rajasthan police in 2010 while Mafat was arrested by the NIA in March this year from his home in the Gajrawadi area of the city. Jayanti and Ramesh were also residents of the same locality but were presently staying in Kashipur.

It is believed that Jayanti, Ramesh and Mafat stayed at slain RSS pracharark Sunil Joshi's house in Madhya Pradesh for some months and disappeared after the latter's murder in December 2007. The arrested accused may also be interrogated in connection with Joshi's murder.

Sources said that the NIA was to produce Jayanti and Ramesh in a local court to obtain a transit remand on Saturday night. Following this, they are likely to be taken to a designated court in Jaipur that is hearing the Ajmer blast case. Sources added that with the arrest of the father-son duo all absconding accused in the bakery case have been apprehended.

Besides the bakery accused quartet, a Mukesh Vasani from Godhra and a Bhavesh Patel from Bharuch were also arrested for the Ajmer blast from the state.

Cow dung and Bombs: Haryana bombings reveals role of cow protection outfit [a covert hindutva operation?]

[See two reports below on what could be covert Hindutva operation?. While these cowboys were blowing up places in Harayana, a recently arrested RSS nut (who has a role in the Samjhauta train bombing) was also playing with cow dung for cover see the third news item below about Kamal Chauhan ]

The Financial Express

Probe into Haryana bombings reveals role of cow shelters
VARINDER BHATIA

Posted: Wednesday, Feb 22, 2012 at 0106 hrs IST

Jind: Investigations into the bombings of several Muslim sites in Haryana’s Jind and Mewat districts in 2009-10 have led the police to a network of gaushalas or cow shelters dotting the region, some of which appear to have played a part in indoctrinating and inspiring the alleged bombers.

The five alleged bombers arrested in Patiala last week on the initial charge of planning a dacoity were produced in a Jind court today. The five men — members of a cow protection group called Azad Sangathan — have given police names of six accomplices, all of whom are on the run.

The arrested men are learnt to have told interrogators that they were “instigated and motivated” to carry out attacks on a mosque, madrasa and slaughterhouse by a man called Swami Dayanand, allegedly the head of a gaushala in Mewat district’s Nuh tehsil.

Dayanand is under the scanner, as are the heads of two other gaushalas in the region, sources in the state police said. None of the three has been questioned yet. Police sources said the gaushalas might have paid the five men a few thousand rupees each to carry out the attacks.

The men — leader Sagar alias Azad alias Kala and his associates Rajesh Kumar, Sham Niwas, Praveen Sharma and Gurnam Singh — were produced before chief judicial magistrate Basruddin who remanded Sagar and Rajesh in the custody of Safidon police in connection with a blast in the town in 2009, and sent the others to jail.

“It has been revealed during interrogation that six more persons — Kismat, Surender, Ajay, Pawan, Sonu and an unidentified man — helped Sagar and his associates in executing the serial blasts. Most of them belong to Jind district and are members of Sagar’s group. The role played by gaushalas and their heads is under investigation too,” investigating officer Inspector Rohtash Singh said.

Besides Dayanand, under the scanner are Swami Gorakshanand and Swami Ganeshanand, both gaushala heads based in Uchana village in Jind. Police sources said they were investigating information that Sagar and his associates were regular visitors to both gaushalas, and might have used them as bases to plan their attacks.

Gorakshanand denied knowing anything about the Azad Sangathan. “I am not aware of any such activity by Sagar or his friends. I have been based in this gaushala for the last 40-50 years. We run ashrams in Haridwar and Kurukshetra, and gaushalas in Jind,” he told The Indian Express.

Villagers in Uchana claimed Ganeshanand had passed away recently.

-----

From: Indian Express

A mysterious discovery, and a bomb in an abattoir

VijaitaSingh : Punhana, Mewat, Wed Feb 22 2012, 01:07 hrs
Fifteen days before a 50-year-old migrant labourer from Bihar was killed in a mysterious explosion at a slaughterhouse in Haryana’s Mewat district, police had recovered explosives and detonators from a ditch in a nearby village.

Three years after these incidents, police have begun to join the dots — after five alleged dacoits arrested by Punjab Police confessed to have carried out four bombings targeted at Muslims in Haryana’s Jind district.

The death of the labourer — identified as Mohammad Medi Hassan, a resident of Madhubani in Bihar — has lain in police records since February 14, 2009, when the blast took place. No progress was made in tracing the planters of the bomb, or the people who hid the explosives in the ditch.

Hassan was killed at Al-Nafees Proteins Limited, a sprawling slaughterhouse owned by a Delhi-based businessman at Satakpuri village in Mewat, after someone rolled a crude bomb into the godown where he was sleeping with two others.

“It was 4 in the morning, and I was asleep. I was woken up by the noise of someone rolling up the shutter of the godown. Something wrapped in a newspaper was rolled towards us,” Rehmatullah, a labourer who survived the explosion said in his complaint to police.

“Two of us ran towards the window, and Hassan ran towards the shutter. Just then, the bomb exploded and he started bleeding from his stomach. We rushed him to hospital but he was dead by then,” Rehmatullah said.

The slaughterhouse complex also has a mosque, which faces the godown where the incident took place.

Barely two weeks before this incident, on January 31, police had recovered a countrymade revolver, red wires, six small pipes, a box of detonators and a bundle of cordex wire from a ditch some six kilometres from the slaughterhouse. From a file that was also found, police had identified three men from Bhilwara in Rajasthan who they suspected might have hidden the bomb-making equipment there. The three — Brij Raj Singh Shekhawat, Kanhaiyya Lal and Bairu Lal — have been declared proclaimed offenders.

“We have sent our teams to Jind and they are interrogating the five accused (arrested in Patiala last week). It is not yet established why they decided to attack this particular slaughterhouse,” Brishbhan, in-charge of Punhana police station in Mewat where both cases are registered, said.

=============================

From: The Times of India

Post-Samjhauta bombing, Kamal Chouhan was saving cows

Venugopal Pillai, TNN Feb 16, 2012, 06.28AM IST

INDORE: RSS man Kamal Chouhan, who is alleged to have bombed the Samjhauta Express killing 68 people, was busy saving cows till last year, say people who knew him in his village near here.

Chauhan, who used to run an RSS shakha in his village Moorkhedi, was associated with Shree Ganga Goshala in Gangajalkhedi. He used to save cows from slaughter and rehabilitate them till last year. "About a year ago, he rescued some ten cows and brought them to the goshala," said Mohanlal, keeper of Shree Ganga Goshala.

According to Ashok Jain, state RSS head, Kamal may have been associated with the RSS at some time, but he did not hold any official position. Jain, however, did not clarify if Chouhan was still an RSS member. "There is nothing like admission or sacking in the RSS," he maintained. Incidentally, Chouhan was quoted saying in reports yesterday that he broke away from the RSS because he could not stand its "new ideology".

Kailash Chauhan, his uncle, said Kamal was an eighth standard dropout from a local government school, and owned 30 bighas of farm land and a tractor. Kailash said his nephew had stopped going to the RSS shakha sometime in 2008. The shakha was held opposite Kamal's home and an RSS worker Rajesh Dhakad had encouraged him to join. Dhakad soon disappeared from the scene and Kamal took over the shakha. "Kamal ran the shakha, attended by many small children," said his uncle, adding the shakha was later "discontinued".

Some, however, believe Kamal could not have been the Samjhauta bomber. A fellow-villager, Rameshwar, claimed that on February 19, 2007 the day the train was bombed, Kamal was in Badoli about 2 kms from Moorkhedi attending a marriage and that his presence has been video recorded.

Former RSS activist planted bombs on Samjhauta Express: NIA

http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/article2893117.ece
Panchkula/New Delhi, February 14, 2012
Former RSS activist planted bombs on Samjhauta Express: NIA
PTI

A close aide of other key accused, Kamal Chauhan underwent extensive training in handling weapons and explosives, the National Investigation Agency said

Kamal Chauhan, a former RSS worker, had planted bombs on board Samjhauta Express in 2007 after undergoing training in arms and explosives in Haryana and Madhya Pradesh, the National Investigation Agency stated today.

Chauhan was taken to Panchkula court which on Tuesday granted NIA custody till February 24 for questioning him on his alleged role in the blast in the Delhi-Lahore train that left 68 people, mostly Pakistanis, dead.

NIA’s Special Prosecutor R.K. Handa said outside the court that Chauhan, along with Ramchandra Kalasangra alias Ramji and Lokesh Sharma, also charged in the case, planted the explosives in the train at Old Delhi, from where the train originates.

Chauhan, believed to be a close aide of Kalsangra and Sandeep Dange, key accused in the Samjhauta case, was arrested in Noida on Delhi’s outskirts on Sunday and was brought to Panchkula in Haryana today. The NIA had sought his remand for a fortnight.

“We have to unearth his complete involvement and association. During investigations, it has come to light that Chauhan underwent extensive training in handling of weapons and explosives. He took training at Karni Singh shooting range in Faridabad (Haryana) and a register seized by CBI on August 10, 2011 has the entries of his name in that shooting range.

He also took explosives and arms training at Bagli in Dewas (Madhya Pradesh),” Mr. Handa said.

“To unearth more information about execution of the plan, preparations that were made, a thorough investigation is required, for which we have sought the remand,” he said.

Chauhan, born in Mhow, was an activist of Rashtirya Swayamsevak Sangh. Sources claimed that during interrogation, Chauhan had spoken about his association with the RSS and his fall-out as he did not subscribe to the “new ideologies”.

Hindu Jagran Manch manch behind Malegaon, Modsa Blasts

Indian Express, October 23, 2008

Hindu group behind Malegaon blast: Police

Smita Nair Posted: Oct 23, 2008 at 1307 hrs IST


Mumbai, October 22 : The Maharashtra police are said to have cracked the September 29 bomb blasts in Malegaon and Modasa town in neighbouring Gujarat saying these were allegedly carried out by the Hindu Jagran Manch, an Indore-based Hindu extremist group known to have links to the BJP's student wing, Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP). The key suspects are being questioned, top Maharashtra Police sources have told The Indian Express.

Five Muslims were killed in a powerful blast in the communally sensitive textile town of Malegaon in Maharashtra and one Muslim boy was killed in the explosion in Modasa in Sabarkantha district.

Both bombs were placed on motorcycles parked in crowded areas days before Eid and set off after Muslims had broken their Ramzan fast on a Monday evening.

The BJP had condemned both the blasts. Investigators initially suspected Islamist groups such as SIMI or the Indian Mujahideen to be behind the near-simultaneous attacks — the first blast was at Modasa at 9.26 pm, the second minutes later in Malegaon — as they came in the aftermath of blasts in Bangalore, Ahmedabad and Delhi.

Rs 8 lakh-redress lost on seething town

The Telegraph, October 1, 2008

Rs 8 lakh-redress lost on seething town
Scarred Malegaon remains on edge

SATISH NANDGAONKAR
Malegaon residents at the funeral of Monday’s blast victims

Malegaon, Sept. 30: Deputy chief minister R.R. Patil didn’t have cheques tossed back at him, but few in Malegaon cared about the Rs 8 lakh he brought for families of each of those killed in last night’s blast.

Such was the anger over the loss of lives that the Maharashtra leader announced the sum at a news conference in the heavily guarded state guesthouse.

Of the Rs 8 lakh, the Congress-NCP state government will pay Rs 5 lakh. The Centre will pay the rest. The 112 injured will get Rs 50,000 each.

After the Shab-e-Barat blasts on September 8, 2006, Shafiq Ahmad, who lost his son, had tossed back a cheque for Rs 1 lakh that Sonia Gandhi offered him days later. He had instead offered her Rs 10 lakh if the Congress-led government arrested his son’s killers within 24 hours.

Hamdani Shakeel Ahmad, a former journalist who owns a shop in Bhiku Chowk, the scene of yesterday’s attack, said: “People know politicians will bend over backwards since elections are close. The hefty compensation is hardly important. It does not solve the problem of terrorism.”

The four dead have been identified as Farheen Shaikh, 8, Shaikh Azhar Abdul 15, Shaikh Rafique, 21, and Mushtaq Ahmed, 30.

Little Farheen, who stayed in a lane close to Bhiku Chowk, had stepped out to buy pakoras when the explosion hit her.

Her father Liyaqat Shaikh was inconsolable. “She wanted to be a doctor,” he sobbed.

Others fumed. “What is the status of Muslims in (Union home minister) Shivraj Patil’s India and R.R. Patil’s Maharashtra? How long will Muslims put up with this?” screamed Syed Asif Ali as Patil arrived at the site.

The anger had spilled onto the streets soon after last night’s blasts, with a missile-hurling mob attacking the nearby Azad Nagar police station.

The assault left 35 policemen injured, including a young IPS probationer, Vrajesh Prabhu, who had to be taken to a Mumbai hospital with severe head injuries.

A constable, Sahebrao Patil, was yanked out of an anti-riot vehicle and beaten up.

Police sources said the mob tried to strangle Patil.

The curfew imposed till this morning in Bhiku Chowk was relaxed and hundreds gathered at Bada Kabrastan — where one of the three bombs had gone off in September 2006 — to bury those killed in last night’s attack.

The motorbike, in which the explosive device was suspected to have been kept, has been found. Forensic expert Dhananjay Mohite said 2 to 3kg of explosives had been used.

Eyewitness Javed Attarwala, in hospital with multiple injuries, said he had spotted the bike around 7pm and had informed Durgah Gate police station.

“I told them I put up my attar (perfume) stall here every day and this bike has cropped up out of nowhere. But the police did not do anything,” he said from his hospital bed.

Patil has promised to investigate the allegation.

Inquiry demanded on Ahmedabad and Surat blasts

Press Release, 4 August 2008

Memorandum

Independent and objective inquiry demanded in Ahmedabad and Surat blasts

- Pray, terror does not touch Gujarat. C.M. Knows state's anti-terror machinery is cracking' warned Times of India on 16th May, 2008.

- Is Ahmedabad safe under new Commissioner of Police O.P. Mathur? Prashant Dayal asked on 27th May, 2008 and onwards in serial articles in Times of India.


Yet instead of reconsidering the appointment of Police Commissioner Gujarat Government allowed SEDITION COMPLAINT being registered against Times of India Resident Editor Bharat Desai and reporter Prashant Dayal on one hand and made several statements after Bangalore blast one was by Minister of States for Home affairs Amit Shah in Dhoraji (Rajkot District) on 25th July, 2008. Second by BJP State President Purshottam Rupala at Virpur (Kheda District) on 26th July, few hours before the first blast in Ahmedabad took place. Over and above Chief Minister himself saying in Jetpur (Rajkot District) making a statement that if the terrorist dare to do what they did in Bangalore I shall hunt them down to death. (Patal Mathi Pan Sodhi Ne Emne Kabrastan Ma Pahochadi Daish, Saaf Kari Nakhis). He earlier had told a public meeting in Mumbai of similar kind and off course Gujarat remembers him boasting during election meetings. Chest as wide as 56", claimed earlier to fight terrorism is now nowhere in the scenario.

- The central agencies, according to Minister of State for Home Affairs in the Union Government, Shakeel Ahmed, had given warnings about high terrorists threat to Gujarat. High alert was advised but Narendra Modi chose to ignore, as if it was weather forecast and decided not to act, Why?

- Is it not too much of coincidence that Surat bomb detonators has been traced to Government factory in Dholpur, in Rajasthan a BJP ruled state and Ammonium Nitrate trail in Nagpur where the RSS headquarter is situated ?

- All the Muslim organisations and leading individuals from the Community have condemned the serial blast in Ahmedabad, they have demonstrated against and asked for independent probe while Hindu organisations have preferred not to do so. Why ?

- A total of 27 live bombs were recovered in Surat in places like Varachha, Kapodara, Mahidharpura and Umbra in four days after the Ahmedabad blasts. The bombs were recovered through the local people and not by Surat police or any crime detection agencies. How this fact is explained?

- Why there are long pending vacancies for five Superintendent of Police, 9 Inspectors and 40 % post of lower level staffers in Intelligence branch resulting in non-availability of intelligence report from bordering districts like Kutch and Banaskantha.

- It is beyond anybody's comprehension that all the live bombs in Surat did not explode while in Ahmedabad most of them did. The bomb disposal squad diffused the explosive without any safety gear and with smiling faces, even they by-standards showed no fear as they watched the bombs being diffused. Did they know that bombs were not to be exploded?

- Surat bombs were planted as high as on hoardings and tree tops which had to be brought down with the help of crane. Are we to believe terrorists were planting the bombs with the help of cranes which Surat police did not know?

- What is the evidence or information available against the survivors of Gujarat carnage 2002, who suffered personal losses six years ago that they are being targeted for the blasts? Or is this the new theory that the Sangh and the administration is selling us?

- Was it true that Pota detainees had called Rasool Party in Pakistan, if so, what action has been taken against the Sabarmati Jail authorities? Are we to believe prisons in Gujarat are the hide outs of terror cells?

- Why the CCTV cameras installed at the state border and in Ahmedabad hospitals failed on 26th July when the blast took place yet no action seems to have taken against them nor anyone is held responsible for the failure?

- Former deputy Prime Minister and leader of the opposition in the Lok Sabha
L.K. Advani downwards in saffron brigade are demanding Pota and Gujco like laws but they do not seems to know that baring two provisions Pota is existing in Gujarat in the form of Prevention of Unlawful Activities Act. Moreover terrorist attacks on Parliament House, Red Fort, Akshardham in Gandhinagar and Jammu Mandir had taken place when POTA law was in operation. Any law can help in penalizing those who are arrested but law by itself does not arrest anybody or prevent any crime.

All the above points are either gross and serious failure by Gujarat Home Department or the State Police or it was a case of criminal complacency in either case an independent inquiry should be held by CBI or by a commission headed by sitting judge of Supreme Court of India.

Is it not true that direct evidence is available against the Sangh Parivar outfits in the following terror attacks/ bomb blasts: Nanded Bomb blast case, Tenkasi terrorist attack, Thane bomb attacks in the theatre, Nagpur attack on the RSS office?

Why the intelligence agencies at the centre ignoring this evidence and why these organizations not banned so far?

Is it not true that Bal Thackrey said that Hindu Suicide squads should be formed and Hindu terror should be unleashed? Also that the bombs planted in Thane should have been stronger? 'It is time to set up Hindu suicide squads to ensure safety of the Hindu society and to protect the nation'.

Why he was not arrested? Why Shiv Sena not banned after this statement?
Why RSS, Bajrang Dal have not been banned?

Is it not true that in 2002 bombs were used to blow up mosques and dargahs and residences? Who made them?

Is it not true that various outfits of the Sangh are giving arms training to their cadre?

We the undersigned demand:

Independent inquiry into the bomb blasts in Ahmedabad and Surat by CBI or by a commission headed by sitting judge of Supreme Court of India.

An inquiry in to the role of RSS, Bajrang Dal and other Sangh Parivar organizations in various terror attacks.

Suspension of Police Commissioner of Ahmedabad.


Dr Asghar Ali Engineer- All India Secular Forum
LS Hardenia- Editor, Secular Democracy
Jyotsna Shukla- Executive Quami Ekta Samiti
Digant Oza- People's Movement of India
Shabnam Hashmi- Anhad, Delhi



to

1. Dr. Manmohan Singh
2. Smt Sonia Gandhi

Statement by Concerned Citizens of Gujarat on "Bomb Blasts" (31st July 2008)

August 4, 2008

CONCERNED CITIZENS OF GUJARAT STATEMENT ON THE RECENT BOMB BLASTS


We, the Concerned Citizens (some of us representing groups / organizations / networks) condemn in no uncertain terms, the recent bomb blasts in Ahmedabad and Bangalore.

We do believe and reaffirm that violence and terror in any form have no place in a law-governed, justice-seeking and humane society and do not serve any real or imagined purpose.

We express our deep heart-felt sympathy and solidarity with all those killed or injured in these blasts. We condole with all our sisters and brothers who have lost their near and dear ones. May the departed souls rest in peace.

We pledge to do all we can, both as individuals and groups, to respond to the immediate needs of those affected; be it in ensuring that proper medical care is given; be it in the care of their children who have been orphaned or any other long term measures for their full and just rehabilitation.

We call upon the State and Central Government to provide just and adequate relief and compensation to all those who are affected and to ensure that this reaches the victims without any kind of discrimination and without any bureaucratic delays or hassles. We commit ourselves to render all assistance to them in securing all relief and compensation declared by the Government.

We earnestly appeal to all those involved in this violence or any other acts of violence to stop this madness immediately. Let them realize that all of us irrespective of our caste, creed or language are capable of joint struggle for just, equal and better society and none of these violent or terrorist acts will deter us or deflect us from our path of seeking justice by all democratic ways. We are fully aware that there are several issues which need to be resolved, that there are flagrant violations of human rights and there are gross abuses of law and denial of justice, but people’s democratic struggle is the answer, not violence or senseless terrorism.

We strongly oppose and condemn all mischievous attempts by vested interests and government authorities to communalize the whole issue, to target and to terrorize one community and to frighten another community with a feeling of insecurity. We are deeply distressed and anguished by the widespread harassment and illegal detention of the members of one community only, in order to cover up the police and intelligence failures in detecting and preventing the terrorist acts. This is nothing but the denial and violence of the basic human rights guaranteed by our Constitution and assured by the International law of Human Rights. State terrorism is no answer to private terrorism. We promise all innocent people who are sought to be harassed or detained by the police that their human rights will be protected.

We have no doubt that the series of blasts in Ahmedabad in a well-orchested manner demonstrate the total failure of our intelligence system which is unfortunately politicized to serve the interests of the ruling party. We fail to understand as to how the anti-terrorist squad, much boasted about can collect every small piece of information of conspiracy to kill our Chief Minister (C.M) and other dignitaries but is stunned and did not have any information about a well and executed series of bomb blasts in different parts of the city at regular intervals of 10 to 15 minutes. The people would like to ask as to how the other C.M (viz. Common Man) failed to get the same assistance from our Intelligence Bureau. Is it that only the Chief Minister’s life is valuable, but not the life of a Common Man?

We also believe that the demand for POTA or Gujarat Act is only a political demand to mislead the people. Those leaders conveniently forget that almost all stringent and draconian provisions of the POTA except provision regarding confession before the police and bails are reproduced in the Prevention of Unlawful Activities Act under which the police, if willing, can effectively act. These leaders also forget that terrorist attacks on the Parliament and Akshardham in Gandhinagar and Gujarat Carnage of 2002 took place when POTA was very much there. Will they explain why they could not prevent them, even though they were in power both in the State and in the Centre?

We call upon the State Government to immediately constitute a Judicial Commission under the Chairmanship of a Sitting Supreme Court Judge to investigate into the why, what and how of these organized terrorist acts of bomb blasts in Ahmedabad. It is necessary for the people to know the whole truth and nothing but the truth, however unpalatable it might turn out to be. We strongly condemn all direct and subtle attempts on the part of certain vested interests to make one or the other community appears to be guilty or blameworthy, instead of establishing the truth by independent and impartial enquiry and investigation agency.

These bomb blasts indiscriminately killing or maiming common people of large parts of the city open up a great opportunity for all of us constituting the civil society to come together, forgetting our differences and our past and to challenge terrorism of all groups and of all kinds and fight together to save our society, our nation and our humanity. Only people living and walking in harmony can alone defeat terrorism from all sides. Let us stand one and united and challenge all divisive forces out to destroy our rich national heritage of pluralism and diversity.

Signed Ahmedabad 30th July, 2008

Girish Patel
Hiren Gandhi
Sophia Khan
Saroop Dhruv
Justice A.P. Ravani
Cedric Prakash
Hanif Lakdawala
Francis Parmar
Prof. J. Bandukwala
Rakesh Sharma
Prof. Nisar Ansari
Piyush O. Desai
P.K. Valera
Mukul Sinha
Ashok Vaghela
Sheeba George
Pushpa Iyer
Damayanti S. Parekh
Digant Oza
Nafisa Barot
Gautam Thaker
Shamshad Pathan
Savita Xalvo
Edwin Masihi
Gaurang Raval
Manisha Trivedi
Rohit Patel
Rupa Mody
Amrish N. Patel
Indu Kumar Jani
Abid Shamsi
Jwalant Mehta
Neha Khanna
Shabnam Hashmi
A.U. Thomar
Lona Pinto
Altaf Ghognani
Macwan Alpana A
Amrutbhai Parmar
Mahadev Vidrohi
Anita M. Namha
Mahendra Patel
Aubrey Fernandes
Mahendra Solanki
Beena Macwan
Mandakini Dave
Bhavik Raja
Manjula Vaghela
D. Ramakrishnan
Meera
Danabhai Parmar
Mohd. Sharif
E. Shailaja
Niyyati Sinha
Fr. Juze Vaz svd
Orville Jacob
Farzana S. Shaikh
Kiran Desai
Freeda Coelho
Parul
H.P. Mistry
Piyush Ratnakar
Hardik Trivedi
R. Vasantha
Hemlata
Roseina
Hozefa
S.H. Iyer
Ibrahim Shaikh
Sachin Pandya
Iqbal Baiey
Satishbhai Parmar
Iqbal Mirza
Shaikh Kausar N
Ishaiq
Shasitaben
Joseph Dominic
Simon Parmar
Javed Ameer
Sr. Edith Gonsalves
Jayesh
Sushila
Jayesh Patel
Victor D. Christian
John D'souza
Vinay Makhija
Kishore
Waqar Qazi
Kamlesh Christian
Abha S
Keshave Kutir
Abheda Khan
Khairun nisha
Abid Ahi Khokhra
Khambaliya Shailesh J.
Aditya Bharadwaj
Anisha
Ansari Juned
Ashutosh B
Baldev Thakar
Beena Jadhav
Bhanu Limba
Bharanisht R. Lamba
Bhatt P. Nauluked
Bipin B. Pasa
Bipin G. Desai
Chandu Maheshwar
Chauhan Govind
Chetanaben
Deepak Solanki
Dionisio Delgado
Durlabha Goria
Gaurav Sharma
Govind M. Parmar
Harsha Bhatt
Hasmukh A. Patel
I.A. Prajapati
Jebhunisa
Jignesh Bhavsar
Jitendra Sinh Sagar
Joshi Divyesh
K.N. Shaikh
Kasmira A.P
Kherunish
Kursida Banu
Lalit Parmar
Lokesh K
M.A. Chhipa
Macwan Steller J
Mahida Mahesh I
Mahida Anand
Manoj Sharma
Meenakshi Joshi
Mehjabeen
Mehul
Mehul Sinha
Memon Moh. Yusuf A
Memon Aarif
Mukund Desai
Munna D. Sumra
Musabhi Abdulbhai
N.V. Yogi
Parveen Mansuri
Patel Rajendra
Patelia Sachin W
Pathan Imran Khan
Piyush Thomar
Prakash Bhatt
Pravin Mishra
Pravin V. Soya
R.M. Shaikh
Rajiv Desai
Raman Rathod
Ramesh Sivahavi
Rathod Bhavna
Rehana
Rimmi
Romel Kamil
Saheen
Saiyed Gulzu
Salma Halel
Sandip N. Patel
Santosh S
Satish
Shaikh Saheen
Shaikh Zohra
Shakil Ahmed
Shameem
Shehnaaz
Sheikh Hallikbhai
Siraj Sundar R. Vogava
Sunil C. Ray
T.L. Parmar
Usma H. Qurayshi
V.D. Pandey
Vinod Veronica D'souza
Yashoda Koria
Yogesh
Zaid (and SEVERAL OTHERS)

Press Statement on Hyderabad Mosque Bomb blasts

Communalism Combat __________________________________________
HATE HURTS HARMONY WORKS


May 18, 2007

Press Statement

We as citizens of India, committed to Peace between peoples, communities and nations, standing for equality for all strongly condemn the dastardly blasts after Friday prayers at the Hyderabad Mecca Mosque today. Terror attacks have no religion and victims of all communities fall prey to these premeditated and violent attacks. India being a secular democratic republic committed to its constitutional mandate must ensure that all its agencies of State and Law Enforcement look at all acts of terror dispassionately and acknowledge that these can be planned and carried out by outfits of all colours and hue who eschew and promote hatred and violence. International terror outfits as well as those that use religion to generate terror from within the country. All must be equally put under intelligence scanners. To date the activities of all such outfits, despite their proven and public record of generating acts of terror and violence including perpetrating pogroms against sections of Indians, have NOT been scrutinized with the same rigour as those of know terror outfits. We must not forget the lessons, unraveled, and yet to be unraveled following the nanded (2006 and 2007) and Malegaon (2006) blasts in Maharashtra.


Teesta Setalvad
Javed Anand
Arvind Krishnaswamy
Nandan Maluste
Rajendra Prasad


Sabrang Communications & Publishing Pvt. Ltd.
P.O.Box 28253, Juhu Post Office, Juhu, Mumbai 400 049. Tel.: 26602288 / 26603927, Fax: 26602288
Email: sabrang@bom2.vsnl.net.in. Web: www.sabrang.com

Possible police cover up of Hindutva involement in Nanded Blasts

The Hindu
22 February 2007

Nanded blast "a possible explosive accident"

Staff Reporter

Inquiry calls for stringent action

MUMBAI: The explosion that killed two persons and damaged a biscuit factory unit in Nanded on February 10 was not a fire accident but a possible explosive accident, says preliminary findings of Concerned Citizen Inquiry, conducted by Teesta Setalvad, Justice B.G. Kolse-Patil and Arvind Deshmukh. The final report will be out in a month, which will include details on the Malegaon blasts, the recovery of RDX and several other recent events.

On February 10, 2007, at about 12.15 a.m., 28-year-old Pandurang Ameelkanthwar died on the spot as the biscuit boxes he was carrying exploded. His cousin, Dnaneshwar Manikwar, who sustained 72 per cent burns, died on February 16 at the JJ Hospital in Mumbai.

Teesta Setalvad, socio-legal activist, wondered why the police hastened to declare it a fire accident before getting the forensic result.

She said there were two versions from Dnaneshwar, one saying it was a short circuit and another saying he did it to claim insurance. Justice B.G. Kolse-Patil said they went to the site with a forensic expert, who did not want to disclose his identity, took pictures, and interviewed people around the area. They also spoke to the owner, the civil surgeon, fire brigade officials, SP Fatehsingh Patil and other police officials.

The expert opinion was that the shutter that took the impact of the explosion would not have been thrown to a distance of 40 feet had it been a normal fire. He also hinted at low intensity volatile explosives.

The inquiry recommends: "The Central Government should keep a close watch and monitor the increasing low intensity terror generating activities being conducted by political outfits that are misusing Hindu religion."

It also recommends "stringent action so that the accused in the earlier Nanded blasts — including those never arrested despite evidence — are arrested or not released on bail, as the case may be. Proceedings of these investigations must be conducted in full public glare."

Malegaon Blasts Test Counter-Terror Strategy

Inter Press Service
September 12, 2006

POLITICS-INDIA:
Blasts Test Counter-Terror Strategy
by Praful Bidwai

NEW DELHI, Sep 12 (IPS) - The three bomb explosions, which ripped through a mosque and an adjoining graveyard, killing 30 people in Malegaon in India's western state of Maharashtra on Friday, have outraged the Indian public. They have also set some tough challenges before the Manmohan Singh government.

Unlike most recent cases of terrorist violence in India, including the Jul. 11 Mumbai bombings in which over 200 were killed, the Malegaon blasts were specifically targeted at Muslims. Their timing, shortly after the Friday prayers on Shab-e-Barat, a day of special religious significance, on which devout Muslims remember their dead, further confirms this.

"That naturally suggests that anti-Muslim groups, probably militant Hindu fanatics, might have been involved," says K.S. Subramanian, a retired senior police official, former fellow of the prestigious Nehru Memorial Museum and Library in New Delhi and author of several analytical books on policing. "The government must address this concern and make Muslims feel less insecure, rather than blame Islamic militants and jehadi groups in a knee-jerk manner."

Immediately after the blasts, Indian officials did seem to be sensitive to such concerns. The police began to look into clues about the bombers and their possible links with a Hindu militant group called Bajrang Dal, which was involved in recent attacks on mosques and in fabricating explosives in towns near Malegaon, all located in the state's backward Marathwada region.

But now, the Maharashtra police are back to the familiar routine of blaming jehadi groups for the carnage, although they have not identified a single individual or arrested anyone.

The sole reason for this change is the claimed identification by state forensic laboratories of the explosives used in the Malegaon blasts-- a combination of high-energy RDX, ammonium nitrate and petroleum jelly. A similar combination was used in recent bombings in Mumbai and in eastern Varanasi.

Yet, only two days ago, the home ministry's top bureaucrat (home secretary) publicly ruled out the use of RDX in Malegaon, and said the explosives were less sophisticated and attached to two bicycles parked at the site.

The suggestion that RDX is a kind of monopoly of Islamic militant groups, and that others can have no access to it, does not sound credible to many explosives experts. "It can be bought by any organised, reasonably funded group," said one expert who insisted on anonymity. "Often, corrupt officers in the security forces are the source of explosives and armaments used by militant groups."

Despite official claims about RDX, not many Muslims can easily rule out the involvement of Hindu militants in the attacks. "The question is, can the government allay their suspicion, acting impartially, and without being seen to be doing so", says Subramanian.

The Bajrang Dal was involved in violently tearing down the Babri mosque in Ayodhya in Uttar Pradesh in December 1992. In 1999, Dara Singh, an activist of the group, burned alive Australian evangelist Graham Staines and his two young sons in eastern Orissa state.

The Bajrang Dal is fiercely xenophobic and believes in establishing a Hindu state in India. It acts as the storm troopers of militant Hindu-chauvinist organizations like the Vishwa Hindu Parishad(VHP), a cohort of the Bharatiya Janata Party(BJP), and the BJP's mentor, the secret society-modelled Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS).

In the recent past, especially in the last few months, the Bajrang Dal and the VHP were implicated in many violent activities in the Marathwada region which lies in Malegaon's neighbourhood.

This past April, Bajrang Dal activists Naresh Rajkondwar and Himanshu Phanse were killed in Nanded while attempting to fabricate a bomb. The incident occurred in the house of a known Bajrang Dal-VHP activist. A second bomb was recovered from the same place.

Earlier in April, the two men detonated a bomb in a mosque in Parbhani, also in Marathwada, injuring 25. In April 2003 and in August 2004, Bajrang Dal members carried out bombings at Jalna, Purna and Parbhani, all in Marathwada.

This history has made large numbers of Muslims in Maharashtra feel insecure and fearful, according to observers. Maharashtra's Muslims have been subjected to repeated harassment, aggressive interrogation, abuse and illegal detention in recent years. This has increased their alienation from the Indian government to unprecedented levels.

In general, Indian Muslims are victims of benign neglect by the state, as well as have inherited social and economic backwardness. They are significantly poorer than other religious groups, and have lower levels of literacy, education, and work participation. Muslims suffer exclusion from government employment, where their representation is 2 - 4 percent, only a fraction of their share of the Indian population, which is 13.4 percent. Particularly alarming is their underrepresentation in Indian police and intelligence agencies.

No less important is the general lack of civic amenities and schools in villages and towns where Muslims form a large proportion of the population. Studies show that Muslim households are far more likely than, say, Hindu families, to suffer from a lack of access to roads, piped drinking water, sanitation, electricity supply and elementary schools.

The Manmohan Singh government acknowledged this subordinate status of Muslims and set up a high-level committee to document it and recommend remedial measures. The committee is expected to submit its report by the end of October.

However, as important as taking long-term measures of affirmative action to improve the condition of Muslims are steps to address their present insecurities, especially as regards the government's counter-terrorism operations. These are based on Western models of understanding contemporary terrorism through an Islam-centric or Islamophobic prism.

The Malegaon episode is crucially important here. If its perpetrators are not brought to justice quickly, Muslim alienation will grow and Hindu militants will become even more aggressive.

Already, many families of the Malegaon victims resent the double standards in the government's relief provision. They are being offered Rs 100,000 (2,100 US dollars) each by the Central and state governments. By contrast, the families of the Mumbai blast victims are being compensated at the rate of Rs 1.15 million (24,000 dollars), including special compensation from the railways and insurance money.

Such double standards will further antagonise Muslims at a time when reaching out to them with an inclusive, secular and strongly pluralist agenda has become imperative.

Singh has announced a special 15-point plan for improving the conditions of the religious minorities. But he faces a larger challenge --bringing the culprits of recent anti-Muslim violence to book.

One central issue here is what his government will do to secure justice for the victims of the 2002 Gujarat carnage in which 2,000 Muslims were butchered. Hardly anyone has been prosecuted by the state's BJP-led government for the killings.

Given this context, Malegaon presents the Singh government with a litmus test: of affirming secular and pluralist principles, or caving in to majoritarianism. (END/2006)