The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) outfit, Rashtriya Muslim Manch (RMM), mentored by RSS central committee member Indresh Kumar who figures in the charge-sheet related to the Ajmer Sharief dargah terror blast of 2007, has come out, expectedly, in his defence.
Some members of the RMM, an organisation working in Jammu and Kashmir over the last eight years, held a press conference here on Wednesday to say “Mr. Indresh Kumar is a committed nationalist” who has been “working ceaselessly for the uplift of Muslims” and “bringing Hindus and Muslims together”.
Aseemanand's confession
Sources in the RSS and the Bharatiya Janata Party indicated that the support has come at this juncture for it was felt that after the arrest of Aseemanand, a ‘swami' working in the tribal Dangs area of Gujarat, Mr. Kumar's interrogation and arrest were imminent. His name already figures in the October 2010 charge-sheet.
The charge-sheet of the Rajasthan police Anti-Terrorism Squad said Mr. Kumar attended a secret meeting in Jaipur's Gujarati guest house in 2005 under a false name. This meeting, among others, was where the terrorist conspiracy was hatched.
After Swami Aseemanand's arrest and confession to a judicial magistrate, the view in some sections of the BJP was that Mr. Kumar could be taken in by the police any time.
Connected to Minority Morcha
Those on the podium at Wednesday's press conference — all self-proclaimed members of the RMM — were also all closely connected to the BJP's Minority Morcha. In fact, Tanweer Ahmed, who currently heads the Morcha, was apparently given this position on the recommendation of Mr. Kumar, BJP sources indicated. Other members of the RMM who were present at Wednesday's ‘Support Indresh Kumar' press conference included Dr. Bilkis Bano, who has also been active in the Minority Morcha of the BJP.
