Daily News and Analysis
February 22, 2007
Two days after the Samjhauta Express blasts,
social activist Teesta Setalvad took potshots
at the administration demanding that Hindu right-wing
fundamentalist groups like the RSS, Shiv Sena,
Bajrang Dal and VHP be banned.
The point, the firebrand social worker, was
trying to convey was that the state governments
and the Centre should be neutral to the point
of treating Hindu terrorist acts and jihadi
terrorism "on a par".
Though Setalvad was not willing to comment on
the possibility of a "Hindu terror link"
to the Samjhauta bombings (since innocent Pakistani
nationals were targets), she claimed Hindu terrorist
groups are being "protected" by the
police and the intelligence agencies. She claimed
the acts of terror perpetrated by Hindu fundamentalist
groups were not being properly "explained".
She said, "In some cases, investigations
were abandoned midway while in some others the
investigating agencies just preferred to turn
a blind eye to the existing state of affairs.
The need of the hour is to instil a sense of
neutrality and purpose in our police agencies
and the way they are marshalled by their political
masters."
Expressing concern at the smaller urban towns
across Maharashtra registering significant growth
of "bomb-making factories", mostly
run and managed by Hindu operatives with terrorist
leanings, Setalvad demanded that they should
be arrested by the government.
Referring to the "impact explosion"
on February 10 at Nanded that took a life due
to the inept handling of highly inflammable
materials stored inside a godown, Setalvad tried
to explain that Hindu right-wing terror is as
much a worrying phenomenon as the jihadi variety.
Pointing fingers at the sloppy probe into the
Malegaon blasts, the activist said the state
was virtually compelled to summarily transfer
the case to the CBI even as the Anti-Terrorism
Squad had a 2,000-page chargesheet in place.
On the latest incident at Malegaon (on February
10), Setalvad said the Concerned Citizens Inquiry
report - a parallel investigation carried out
by the social group in the two Nanded blasts
cases - suggested the existence of ingredients
(glycerine, sulphuric acid and nitric acid/
glass and gelatine sticks) used in manufacturing
liquid bombs.
Such materials are being used to prepare crude
liquid Molotov cocktails. "The blasts on-board
Samjhauta were executed using a combination
of similar crude pieces," she claimed.
