The Hindu : Front Page : RSS: don’t defame Hindu organisations

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RSS: don’t defame Hindu organisations

Neena Vyas

NEW DELHI: Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh joint general secretary Madan Das Devi said here on Saturday that the government, the investigating agencies and the law should “punish the terrorist,” but “not defame Hindu organisations.”

The RSS said it was hurt by reports describing senior RSS member of its working committee Indresh Kumar as “an agent of the Inter-Services Intelligence” of Pakistan.

Mr. Devi rubbished this charge and said he was a “dedicated pracharak of the RSS.” However, there was not a word in defence of the Malegaon blast accused Pragnya Singh Thakur, Dayanand Saraswati or Lt. Col. Shrikant Purohit.

A senior RSS leader told The Hindu: “It is confirmed there was a plot to eliminate two senior RSS leaders — general secretary Mohan Bhagwat (who is second in command of the RSS after chief K.S. Sudarsan) and Indresh Kumar. The compact disc of a narco test done on one of the Malegaon accused clearly indicated the plot. This was shown to L.K. Advani by the National Security Adviser, M.K. Narayanan.”

Mr. Devi himself said a “supari” was given for the murder of the two RSS leaders.

RSS charge

On that basis, the RSS charged the government with not acting on “such a serious issue” and added that “governments are obliged to ensure [the] protection of all citizens,” but, in this instance, “no initiative was taken [to offer security cover].”

Mr. Devi pointed out that RSS leaders travelled throughout the country and met a large number of people — not necessarily only those who don the RSS uniform of khaki shorts. At these meetings “all kinds of information are given and taken. Merely because someone had come and said something doesn’t really mean anything.” Mr. Devi suggested that RSS leaders could not be held to be guilty merely because “someone” met them or shared some information with them. The obvious reference was to someone who may be one of the accused in the Malegaon blast case.

Contrary to what Bharatiya Janata Party president Rajnath Singh said — “no Hindu can be a terrorist” — the RSS leader acknowledged that “individuals” belonging to one religion or another might be involved in terror activities. What the RSS objected to was the “propaganda” to tarnish the image of what he called “Hindu organisations.”

He described this propaganda, through selective leaks by the Maharashtra’s Anti-Terrorism Squad, as “politically motivated.” But every terrorist’s case must be “thoroughly and professional investigated and the truth brought out.”

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