Hindu terrorism

Saffron terror is a controversial phrase used to describe acts of Right-wing terrorism in India, allegedly inspired by Hindu nationalism. The phrase "saffron terror" is a neologism which entered public debate in India following the 29 September 2008 western India bombings.

The Home Minister of India, P. Chidambaram urged Indians to beware of "Saffron terror" on August 25, 2010 at a meeting of state police chiefs in New Delhi. This was the first time the word was "officially" used by the UPA government., though it is used also by other ministers of the UPA Government. The term is referred to for right wing religious fundamentalists in India, as per the Union Home Minister of India.

Investigations and allegations

Hindu extremist organisations have been alleged to be involved in terrorist attacks including 2006 Malegaon blasts, Mecca Masjid bombing (Hyderabad), Samjhauta Express bombings and the Ajmer Sharif Dargah Blast.

Investigation of Ajmer Dargah Blast

Main article: Ajmer sharif dargah blast § Investigations

A blast shook the sufi shrine of Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti at Ajmer on Thursday at 6:20 pm, leaving two dead and eleven injured. The blast was initially blamed on the Pakistani terrorist group LeT. However, in 2010, The ATS arrested five individuals for the blast, four of whom were members of the Hindu Nationalist group RSS. Swami Aseemanand, in his confession, also admitted the involvement of former RSS members and the Inter-Services Intelligence in the blast. His lawyer claimed that the confession was made under "extreme pressure".

Investigation of Samjhauta Express bombing

Main article: Samjhauta Express bombings § Investigation

Initially the primary suspects of the bombing were considered to be Pakistan-based terror groups like the LeT and the JeM. In November 2008, it was reported that Indian officials also suspected the attacks were linked to Prasad Shrikant Purohit, an Indian army officer and member of Hindu nationalist group Abhinav Bharat. Wikileaks reports name David Headley as behind the Samjhauta attacks. On January 8, 2011, Swami Aseemanand allegedly confessed that Saffron terror outfits were behind the bombing of Samjhauta express, a statement later alleged to be obtained under duress. His confessions included allegations that Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) was supporting the activities logistically. On March 31, 2011 Aseemanand redacted his confession, citing government pressure. Security analyst B. Raman has termed this investigation as a "partisan political game.".

Investigation of 2008 Malegaon blasts

Police filed a chargesheet that named Indian Army officer Lt Col Prasad Purohit as the alleged main conspirator who provided the explosives, and Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur as the alleged prime accused who arranged for the men who planted the explosives.

A 4,000-page chargesheet, filed by Maharashtra Anti- Terrorism Squad (ATS) before the Special MCOCA court here, stated that Purohit joined the right-wing Hindu group Abhinav Bharat in 2007 with an alleged intention to ‘propagate a separate Hindu Rashtra with its own Constitution’. According to the document, the Army officer allegedly collected ‘huge amounts’ to the tune of Rs 21 lakh for himself and Abhinav Bharat to promote his "fundamentalist ideology."

It was in the aftermath of the September 29 bomb blast in the predominantly Muslim town of Malegaon in Maharashtra that the alleged terms Saffron Terror and Hindutva Terror came to be used widely in various medias. However, the accused parties confessed to police on narco-analysis that a group of Muslim individuals was used to obtain the RDX used in the blast. However, Purohit allegedly admitted that a splinter group with tenuous ties to him had executed two blasts in India, which prompted investigators to look into the blasts in Ajmer and Hyderabad.

Three men accused of the 2006 Malegaon bombings, including Lt Col Shrikant Purohit of the India army and Pragya Singh Thakur, have been described as representing Saffron terror. Purohit was also accused of being involved in the 2007 Samjhauta Express bombings until the role of Pakistani terrorist Asif Zamani was unearthed. A United States Department of the Treasury report links these bombings to Lashkar-e-Taiba and Al-Qaeda.

Investigation of Mecca Masjid bombing

Main article: Mecca Masjid bombing § Suspected bombers

While the United Progressive Alliance-led central government has claimed that Abhinav Bharat was behind the Mecca Masjid bombing, the South Asia Terrorism Portal, the Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses, the United States, and the United Nations have asserted that the Islamic outfit Harkat-ul-Jihad al-Islami was actually behind the attacks. Noting this, security analyst Bahukutumbi Raman has questioned "the two different versions that have emerged from Indian and American investigators." On September 22, 2010 a report submitted by the United States National Counterterrorism Center (NCTC) to the United States Department of Homeland Security, named HuJi responsible for the blasts. The CBI claimed in their response that the NCTC "do not seem to be updated with developments in the case"

Swami Aseemanand confessed in January 2011 that he and other Hindu activists were involved in bombings at Muslim religious places(including the mecca masjid). Hyderabad was chosen because the Nizam of Hyderabad wanted to opt for Pakistan at the time of partition. However his lawyer claimed that confession was obtained under pressure.

Other allegations

Members of Abhinav Bharat have recently been alleged to have been involved in a plot to kill Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh President Mohan Bhagwat. allegedly with the help of Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence. Headlines Today released a recorded video tested by the Central Forensic Science Laboratory which indicated the uncovering of an alleged plot to assassinate the Vice President of India Hamid Ansari. Tehelka also released alleged audio tapes transcripts of main conspirators of Abhinav Bharat which indicated involvement of Military intelligence officers with the Abhinav Bharat group in their January 2011 edition.

According to some released documents by WikiLeaks, Congress(I) party's general secretary Rahul Gandhi remarked to US Ambassador Timothy Roemer, at a luncheon hosted by Prime Minister of India at his residence in July 2009, that R.S.S. posed a 'bigger threat' to India than the Lashkar-e-Tayiba. RSS mouthpiece Panchjanya said that the statement indicated his lack of understanding of Hindutva & concept of nationalism and part of a pre-planned move.

At The Annual Conference of Director General of Police held in New Delhi on 16th September 2011, a special director of the Intelligence Bureau (IB) reportedly informed the state police chiefs that the Hindutva activists have either been suspected or are under investigation in 16 incidents of bomb blasts in the country.

Organizations and alleged people

The following organizations are alleged to be involved in acts of terrorism attributable to Hindu nationalism:

• Abhinav Bharat - Notable members: Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur, Lt. Col Prasad Shrikant Purohit, Swami Aseemanand

Two persons with alleged links to the Hindutva organization Sanatan Sanstha were sentenced to 10 years in jail for planting explosives and causing an explosion in various theatres in Thane and Vasai.

Usage

The first known use of the term "Saffron Terror" is from an 2002 article in Frontline in reference to 2002 Gujarat Riots. However it was in the aftermath of the September 29, 2008 bomb blast in the predominantly Muslim town of Malegaon in Maharashtra that these terms came to be used widely. In late 2008, Indian police arrested members of a Hindu radical cell allegedly involved in an attack Malegaon which killed 7 Muslims. For incidents like these, Saffron terror has been used synonymously with "Anti-Muslim terrorism" or "Anti-Muslim reprisals".

The current Home Minister of India, P. Chidambaram urged Indians to beware of "Saffron terror" on August 25, 2010 at a meeting of state police chiefs in New Delhi. This was the first time the word was "officially" used by the Government of India. Since making the remark, a Hindu Swami in the Patan district has filed a defamation lawsuit against Chidambaram, on the grounds that the saffron color is a conventional Hindu symbol and worn regularly by Hindu religious clergy, and that Chidambaram has hurt the sentiments of Hindus by linking the symbol to terrorism. Chidambaram responded by stating "I cannot claim patent on the phrase." On September 6, 2010 a Gujarat court ordered a probe into the use of the term by Chidambaram. Chidambaram was also criticized by members of his own party (the Indian National Congress) for the use of the term, with Congress spokesman Janardhan Dwivedi claiming "terrorism does not have any colour other than black".

Criticism

The usage of the term "Saffron terror" has come under criticism, especially from the Bhartiya Janata Party, whose leaders claim that the term is being used by the government(controlled by the rival party Indian National Congress) for political gains.

The term has been criticized as a "myth" by BJP MP Balbir Punj, who claims that the term is an invention of the Indian National Congress party to demonize their political opposition as "terrorists". Bahukutumbi Raman, a former head of the Research and Analysis Wing, criticized the term as a tool for political posturing toward the Muslim minority. Similar views have been expressed by other journalists in India Kanchan Gupta and Swapan Dasgupta, have accused investigators of leaking statements about saffron terror to the media to promote the agenda of the Indian National Congress,

The BJP's former president, Rajnath Singh, has denounced claims of Hindu terrorists as "vilification of Hindu saints and army officers in the name of Hindu terrorism". In 2010, the internet whistleblower organization Wikileaks released documents attesting to some leaders of the Indian National Congress alleging involved of Hindu right-wing groups in the death of ATS chief Hemant Karkare during the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks. The cable concluded that such allegations were being used for electoral gains. The term "Saffron Terror" was prominently used by some Congress party members in this campaign, most prominently by Digvijay Singh. The Bharatiya Janata Party criticised these statements and filed a complaint with the Election Commission of India citing it as a violation of the Model Code of Conduct for guidance of political parties. The Election Commission issued a show-cause notice to Digvijay Singh on this complaint . Hindu spiritual leader Sri Sri Ravi Shankar has also criticized the usage of the term, saying that it is a myth and insult to Hindu religion, which he said is the most tolerant religion.

The main opposition party BJP accused the government of targeting Hindus. BJP leader M M Joshi said that the Congress had itself set up a committee ahead of independence to consider what the national flag should look like and saffron was the colour chosen by it and that Saffron is a part of Indian heritage. MPs of another party Shiv Sena rushed into the well demanding an apology from the home minister and later staged a walkout. Ram Madhav, a member of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh's national executive, Home Minister made it a point to single it out by not making reference to any other terror in the country by name. In his address he didn't talk about jihadi or Islamic terror, didn't utter the word red terror except a vague reference to Left wing extremism towards the end and questioned how a couple of sporadic cases that took place during a period of 14 months, that have happened between August 2007 and Malegaon become a phenomenon? He also pointed out that 'security bureaucracy' could be acting at the behest of their political masters seemed to be behind creating saffron terror.

See also

• Communalism (South Asia)
• Religious violence in India
• Nationalist terrorism
• Terrorism in India
• 2007 Samjhauta Express bombings
• 2007 Mecca Masjid bombing
• 2007 Ajmer Dargah attack
• 2008 Malegoan & Modasa bombing
• Saffronization

Further Reading

• Subhash Gatade, 'Godse's Children:Hindutva Terror in India',Pharos Media & Publishing Pvt Ltd (2011),(ISBN 81-7221-052-3 or ISBN 978-81-7221-052-6)
• Praveen Swami (2010-05-11). "The Rise Of Hindutva Terrorism". outlookindia.com. Outlook India.