Did Terrorism In India Convert To Hinduism,
Or A Paradigm Shift Towards Truth?
By Ershad Abubacker
29 August, 2010
Countercurrents.org
"There is the recently uncovered phenomenon of saffron terrorism that has been implicated in many bomb blasts of the past," said Union Home Minister Mr. P Chidambaram in his inaugural address to the 45th meet of the chiefs of state police and central paramilitary forces at New Delhi, "My advice to you is that we must remain ever vigilant and continue to build at the central and state levels, our capacity in counter-terrorism."
Finally, the Government of India has publically accepted that there exists an alternate route for terror quite contrary from the ever animated 'Islamic terror'. The statement by Union Home Minister P Chidambaram marks the official entry of the word Saffron Terror in the government lexicon. Blasts at Purna, Jalna and Prabhani mosques, Hyderabad, Mecca Masjid, Ajmer, Malegav, Nanded, Kanpur, Samjautha Express.., the number of the terror attacks officially proved to be the handiwork of the saffron terrorists seems to be increasing. Given the similarities in the circumstances and modus operandi of the yet to be proved blasts and the ones under investigation, it is highly likely that more blasts that happened in this country will be recorded under the Hindutva organizations.
The heartrending fact about this late realization is that all these cases were once 'credibly' investigated by various agencies, charge sheets being filed in the court and accused being arrested, handcuffed and paraded before the ever frenzied television cameras wearing caps and Palestinian Kafiyas to give an Islamic colour to the terrorist attacks happening in the country. But as the truth unfolds before our eyes the terrorism chronicle of the country took a paradigm shift to have new names and organizations under the saffron banner as the accused behind the blasts. These were the same people who claimed to be the real patriots of India and cried foul accusing the minorities on terrorism and patriotic counts since the parliament attack case nearly ten years ago.
Though Prime Minister Manmohan Singh admitted the fact that terrorism has no religion, the damage had already been done vis-à-vis the alienation of the Muslim community throughout the country. Think about the huge chunk of people, Muslims and Non-Muslim, detained for months and years together without trial in various terrorism cases based on flimsy or even no evidence, tortured, humiliated, ill treated and then released as innocents due to lack of evidence (or were there any in the first instance?) or the actual culprit being caught? The physical, mental, financial and psychological trauma undergone by them, their parents, wives, children and relatives cannot be negated by any government. Will someone marry off their daughters to that family? Remember, these were ordinary people like you and me, people who had colleges to go, loans to be re-paid, children to be dropped at school and families to look after. How would the government compensate for the pain, agony and humiliation suffered by them day in and day out? The hysterical media who rallied behind the police force to get a close up photo of these 'terrorists' didn't even took care to report when they were released free. Those stories didn't find space even in a paragraph or two buried deep inside stories that highlighted customary reports of Islamic terror.
The media to a great extend has been playing to the tune of the Hindutva lobby and had been giving the police versions of Rakesh Marias and KP Raghuvanshis as prophetic revelations as far as terrorism is concerned and their words being spread across the whole country in unfathomable proportions so that the world public opinion is created against the minorities. The mainstream media has been highly successful in clubbing Islam and terrorism and things has become so intertwined to the extent that it needs huge effort and time for the public to believe the truth of Hindutva terrorism.
Among various terror plots busted by the ATS and NIA includes shocking revelations where in Abhinav Bharat and Sanatan Sanstha procuring lethal arms and organizing military training campaigns for its cadres from Nepal, plans for attacking strategic targets in the guise of Indian Army, a many former army intelligence and military officers providing training and material support to the terrorist brigade. This apart, many affiliates inside the military forces closely associated with various Hindutva organizations were found to be frequently flying to Israel to get trained in anti-terror operations. This would naturally force one to revisit the allegation of Israeli hand in Mumbai terror attack. But unfortunately the fourth estate, who is supposed to be the watchdog of democracy, is being meshed in symbiotic relationship with the powerful rather than being independent and critical. They are typically being dependent on police forces and are unwilling to raise the crucial critical questions. Rather than monitoring the game of power the journalists are simply part of the game itself.
An interesting observation to be made here is that there was no significant decrease in number of terrorist attacks or the number of causalities happening in the country when countless Muslim youths were being arrested and kept behind the bar implicated in various terrorism related cases. That notwithstanding, terrorist attacks were quite predictably happening at crucial junctures like a BJP Central Office Bearers Meeting, Modi about to be arrested, prize hike, a dialogue with Pakistan or when Kashmiri people took up a popular uprising. Though silence cannot be mistaken as peace, there has certainly been a decrease in the number and frequency of bomb blasts in India this year and that must be read along with the arrest of major players of Saffron terror including Lt Col Prasad Purohit, Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur and Swami Asimananda. The natural inference of this scenario is the link between the terrorist attacks that happened in the country with the saffron organizations. Though very late, this realization is now being acknowledged by the union home minister in his statement above. And predictably the BJP and its affiliates making an uproar in the parliament against his remark gets more coverage in the media that the minister's remark itself.
It is important to challenge the prevailing theology that any and every terror attack should automatically be linked to Islamic radicals of some variety or other. There are certain people cynical enough in this country to blow up innocent people for opportunistic political gains, quite apart from religious fundamentalists. The ambit of investigation should widen beyond Islamist groups. All individuals and organizations with a history of bomb making or an incentive to create violence should be investigated. This is not to say that the so called Islamic organizations with violent ideologies and external linkages should not be investigated. Of course, they must be, and with vigor. The point, rather, is that the investigations into terror attacks should not begin and end with predetermined notions about who is culpable. This is absolutely vital for combating terror effectively. Investigator's prejudice about the identity of terror perpetrators would not only hamper investigations but also occasionally get entirely innocent people terminated with extreme prejudice, creating yet more terror recruits all around. While performing this necessary task, it is still possible for the police to avoid giving the impression that they selectively target Muslims. This has become an absolute necessity. The fact, ultimately, is that a large share of those getting slaughtered by the terrorists is Muslims itself. Ordinary Muslims have every interest in bringing the guilt to book. They would welcome, not complain about, police investigation into terror attacks, if these are fair and seen to be fair.
How can investigations be fair in fact and perception? The point is not just to investigate bomb making non-Muslim trouble makers, when ground exist to suspect them. More important is to ensure that the methods used for investigation and interrogations are fair, within the framework of civil and human rights guaranteed by the constitution. Midnight knocks on the door, search and seize operations without warrant, illegal detention for years, disappearance of those detained for days, weeks or forever-many see these as par for the course when it comes to terror. This would be a big mistake to make, for what it could achieve in terms of Muslim alienation.
In all these clutter, what is at stake is the democratic essence of the Indian polity, indeed, modern civilization built on liberal democracy and its rule of law. With their irrational hatred towards communities, contempt for institutional democracy, penchant for organized violence and blind faith in the legitimacy of what they believe in (i.e., distorted versions of all pure religions) and what they do, all terrorists, be that of any religion, are all fascists. To fight terror is to fight fascism. You don't fight fascism by becoming a fascist yourself. The monochrome vision of terror needs to be debunked.
Ershad Abubacker is a Research Analyst based in Chennai. He can be reached at [email protected]
