Right Wing Terrorism | SabrangIndia

All including Aseemanand acquitted in Mecca Masjid Blast Case

Mon, 16 Apr 2018 10:40:16 +0000

All those accused in the 2007 Mecca Masjid blast case have been acquitted by a special NIA court. On May 18, 2007, a pipe bomb exploded in Hyderabad’s Mecca Masjid, killing at least eight people, and wounding more than 50 people. Reports indicate that more than 10,000 people were in the mosque at the time of the explosion. Five other people were also killed when the police “opened fire” after there were riots during Friday prayers on that day. Police also recovered and defused two other live IEDs. The National Investigation Agency (NIA) plans to scrutinise the court’s judgment, after which a further course of action will be determined.

Image Courtesy: The Indian Express

Ten people, all allegedly belonging to the right-wing Hindu organisation Abhinav Bharat, were accused in the case. These included Nabakumar Sarkar alias Swami Aseemanand, Devender Gupta, Lokesh Sharma alias Ajay Tiwari, Mohanlal Rateshwar and Rajender Chowdhary. Two accused–Sandeep Dange and Ramchandra Kalsangra–are still absconding. One of the accused, RSS official Sunil Joshi, was murdered during the investigation.

Wrongful detention of Muslim Youth
The Hyderabad Police conducted an initial probe, and reportedly detained more than 50 Muslim youth during the investigation. A fact-finding panel with the state’s minority commission found that the youth were illegally confined and tortured by the police. The youth were all subsequently acquitted, and, as per the National Minority Commission’s recommendation, the state government handed out monetary compensation to them. In September 2013, the High Court set aside the compensation paid to the youth.

How the Investigation and Trial progressed
Following the police probe, Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) took over the Mecca Masjid blast case and filed a chargesheet. In April 2011, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) took over the case. The trial, which concluded last week, took place at the IV Additional Metropolitan Session Court, a special NIA court, at Hyderabad’s Namapally court complex. The verdict was scheduled for today, April 16. The prosecution was led by the NIA’s Chief Public Prosecutor N. Harinath, who interviewed 226 witnesses. 64 witnesses, including Lt. Col. Shrikant Purohit, turned hostile during the trial. Purohit alleged that neither the CBI nor the NIA recorded his statement.

Aseemanand’s Confession and Retraction
Swami Aseemanand, who was present at the Namapally court today, was arrested by the CBI in November 2010 in Haridwar over his alleged involvement in the Mecca Masjid bomb blast. In December 2010, Aseemanand confessed to plotting the 2006 Malegaon blasts, February 2007’s Samjhauta Express blast, May 2007’s Mecca Masjid blast, and October 2007’s Ajmer Sharif blast, and also implicated certain RSS officials.

In January 2011, following the news of Aseemanand’s confession, the Vishwa Hindu Parishad alleged that the Congress-led government was attempting to “malign the image of Hindu leaders by terming them as terrorists,” saying it was the “greatest lie” that Aseemanand had confessed. An editorial in the RSS’ ‘Organiser’ said it was “…intriguing that only persons named in alleged Hindu radicalism seem to be making ‘confessions’,” adding, “We have not heard of a Kasab or Afzal Guru or captured jehadi, terrorist making such a confession. Are they so tight-lipped?”

However, in March 2011, Aseemanand submitted a letter to an Ajmer court saying, “I have been pressurized mentally and physically by the investigating agencies to confess that I was behind these blasts.” He also alleged that the investigative agencies, such as the NIA and the Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS) were involving his family members in the case, and accused Rajasthan’s ATS unit of not allowing him to engage a lawyer.

Other evidence
Forensic reports from the NIA indicated a link between the 2006 and 2008 Malegaon blasts, the 2007 Ajmer Sharif and Mecca Masjid blasts, the 2008 Modasa and the 2006 Samjhauta Express blasts. In March 2017, Aseemanand was acquitted in the Ajmer Dargah blast case, and later granted bail in the Mecca Masjid blast case.

The curious testimony of Shaikh Abdul Kaleem
In April 2017, Shaik Abdul Kaleem, 27, to whom Aseemanand allegedly admitted his involvement in the Mecca Masjid blast when they were both at Hyderabad’s Chanchalguda Jail, said he wanted to write a memoir, but questioned who would agree to publish it. He said, “When I heard Aseemanand was acquitted in the Ajmer blast case, I could not believe it. I could not believe when he was granted bail in the Mecca Masjid blast case also. I put my life at risk and went to Ajmer and Panchkula to give evidence based on what Aseemanand confessed to me… at Chanchalguda Jail”.

According to Kaleem, Aseemanand told him “how he and his group planned and executed the blasts, and apologised to me because I had to spend time in jail while he was the accused. He repented that”. Kaleem was detained by the police in July 2007 following the Mecca Masjid blast over the suspicion of being involved in terror activities. He was in jail for a year, and was acquitted in July 2008. Since then, he also spent time in jail in relation to another case, and was booked for alleged assault in a third case.

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Right-wing groups can’t deny existence of Hindu terrorism: Kamal Haasan

Thu, 02 Nov 2017 10:09:46 +0000

Tamil megastar Kamal Haasan has said that Hindu right-wing groups could not deny the existence of Hindu terror any more.

(AFP)

Writing in a Tamil weekly news magazine, the popular star said, “The right wing cannot challenge talk of Hindu terrorists because terror has spread into their camp as well. In the past, Hindu, right-wing groups would not indulge in violence. They would hold a dialogue with opponents. But now they resort to violence.”

Haasan added, “Hindus are losing faith in ‘satyameva jayate‘ and instead subscribing to ‘might is right’.”

Political analysts feel that the latest stand, a bold one, by Haasan will help him occupy the emptying space in politics in both Tamil Nadu and and rest of India.

“I believe Kamal is trying to occupy the considerable anti-Hindutva space in Tamil Nadu vacated by a docile AIADMK and a confused DMK,” RK Radhakrishnan, Associate Editor, Frontline was quoted by News18.

His comments evoked angry reactions from RSS supporters. Rakesh Sinha, an RSS ideologue, demanded an apology from the actor.

“Kamal Haasan must apologise for hurting Hindu civilisation, defaming it, trying to create provocation for his petty political end,” Sinha tweeted.

Haasan has already made his intention to enter politics. The actor has made it clear that his colour wouldn’t be ‘saffron.’ implying that his new political outfit will be anti-right.

Haasan had recently apologised for supporting Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s demonetisation announcement last November. The 62-year-old actor, who has announced his intention to float a new political party, wrote, “If the PM accepts his mistake, my salaam (salute) awaits him.”

Courtesy: Janta Ka Reporter

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Right Wing’s Holl-ow Fame

Tue, 07 Mar 2017 10:39:45 +0000

Right Wing turns blind to it's own 'standards of morality'.

Ramjas Protest, 22nd February, 2017

We recently witnessed how ABVP unleashed violence in Delhi University. This does not come as a surprise as the ideology they uphold is inherently violent and discriminatory. The parent body of ABVP being RSS sets the example by action for them. Newsclick invites you to take a walk in RSS’s Hall of (ill) Fame.

Mohan Bhagwat, RSS Chief, batted for ‘Gender Equality ’ in November 2016. He went on to emphasize on more involvement of women for change in society. As surprising as it may seem, this bearer of the gender equality flag, was seen getting his feet washed by tribal women in March 2012.

A Tribal woman washing Mohan Bhagwat's feet.

RSS’s sahprachar pramukh Kundan Chandrawat announced a bounty of Rs. 1 crore on the head of Kerala CM Pinarayi Vijayan. Let’s have a look at the background of the boastful man who takes pride in giving such threats.

Kundan Chandrawat’s father , Lakshman Chandrawat lives in destitution. He struggles for his daily bread. He has been living alone for the past 5 years in a small one room house that belongs to the Bohra community, situated in Nayi Sadak. At 70 years of age, he makes his own roti and when not able to, he begs for it from the neighbors. He has only one set of ragged clothes and lives off of Rs 500 a month, given to him by his son. Lakshman Chandrawat asks where his son will get the money that he has awarded for Pinarayi Vijayan’s head. Adding to the anger for his son, he said that Kundan Chandrawat will reap what he sows and will get punished for his wrong doings.

When asked about his wife, Kundan Chandrawat’s mother, he said that even she has been abandoned by the son. The mother, Kasturibai stays in Nanakheda district in Ekta Nagar district. Reporters had tried to find her, but were unsuccessful. This son is willing to give away Rs. 1 crore for a man’s head but cannot spare more than Rs. 500 for his own father. All this is happening when there is a law in our country against the mistreatment of senior citizens known as the Maintenance and Welfare of Parents and Senior Citizens Act, 2007.

Lakshman Chandrawat

Delhi University Student Union’s ex president Satender Awana made the headlines in March, 2016 for a dowry harassment case . The complainant, who was married to Mohit Awana (brother of Satender Awana), in 2015 reached out to the police. Nine members of the Awana family, including Satender and his father, had been named under six counts in the dowry harrassment case.

A month before this ill famed news, he was in the spotlight for roughing up women journalists of The Quint . The story they were pursuing was for a campaign The Quint has spearheaded, called #MakeOutInIndia – an open celebration of sex and sexuality, without any euphemisms attached. The then DUSU president disrupted their interviews and accused them of being morally loose. Maurice Nagar police station’s SHO Aarti Sharma came to their rescue and shut up the rowdy bunch immediately, reminding them that we live in the 21st century where we have the right to talk about sex.

Satender Awana with the SHO and Quint journalists

Satender Awana’s abominable tales are unending. A video went viral on YouTube in December, 2016, in which the former DUSU president and Satender Awana were seen threatening Prof. Ved Kumari , the Dean of Delhi University Law Faculty, even as the police officers stood on silently.

The most recent scuffle in Delhi University also involved the ex DUSU President and his student organisation ABVP. English department of the college, along with Wordcraft – the Ramjas Literary Society – had organised a two-day seminar exploring representations of dissent. Umar Khalid was one of the speakers on 21st February, 2017. ABVP students vandalised the event, objecting to Umar Khalid’s invitation. They surrounded the seminar room and locked up the faculty and students forcing a cancellation of the event. To protest the disruption and violence by the ABVP, the students and teachers of DU organised a protest march on February 22. The march was disrupted by the ABVP, and they attacked students, teachers and journalists alike. More than 20 people were injured badly. Few got hospitalized.

In links to the above case, Gurmehar Kaur, daughter of a Kargil martyr was threatened for speaking up against ABVP Violence. The Delhi University student from Lady Shri Ram college, started a social media campaign on Facebook against the violence caused by the ABVP in the university’s North Campus on 22 February. She was then constantly given death and rape threats by the right wing trolls for supporting ‘Anti-nationals’.

Gurmehar Kaur's brave response to trolls

In RSS’s most recent scandal, former Delhi BJP MLA Vijay Jolly has been booked in a case of rape after a woman alleged that he drugged and assaulted her in February, 2017.

In other allegation that is bound to mar the reputation of Bharatiya Janata party (BJP) and RSS, the Party’s Mahila Morcha leader Juhi Chowdhury has been booked in child trafficking case, in March 2017. A key accused in the case in Jalpaiguri, Chandana Chakraborty, had been arrested earlier who, in her testimony, alleged that BJP leader Kailash Vijayvargiya and MP Roopa Ganguly were also involved in the racket.

Juhi Chowdhury arrested by police

While the RSS has been pointing fingers at other on the question of Nationalism and Morality, what they don’t see is their own three fingers pointing back at them.

Courtesy: Newsclick.in

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