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.
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.
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