By Manzar Bilal, TwoCircles.net,
New Delhi: “The RSS has a history of militant Hindutva ideology. India is a republic country but the Hindutva lobby wants to convert it into a Hindu Rashtra,” said CPI-M leader Sitaram Yechury. He was speaking at a national seminar on 28th January, organized to highlight the plight of innocent Muslims who were fabricated in terror cases which were actually the handiworks of RSS activists.
“There should be zero tolerance against terrorism. At the same time we must not practice double standards in dealing with terror cases-targeting a particular community as terrorist while giving clean chit to another. Otherwise, we will never win the fight against the deadly menace of terrorism and radicalism,” he further added.
L-R: Shabnam Hashmi, Ram Vilas Paswan, Sitaram Yechury, Digvijay Singh, Zahid Ali Khan, Editor of Siasat daily
Mr. Yechury promised that in the next Parliament session, his party will raise the issue of innocent Muslims who were falsely implicated in terror cases. He strongly backed the Congress General Secretary, Digvijay Singh’s view that the two-nation theory was coined by Savarkar and B S Moonje, which was later only adopted by the Muslim League.
While speaking at the conference, Digvijay Singh, who has been in the news for his anti-RSS remarks, said: “Now when it has become clear that the RSS workers are behind all the blasts, it is high time to seriously look into the funding sources of the RSS and its sister organizations.”
“Why all the RSS activists who have been accused in terror cases were provided shelter in BJP ruled state of Gujarat? Why did the police team of Haryana, which went to Gujarat to investigate Samjhauta blasts, not get cooperation from Gujarat Police?” questioned Mr. Singh.
Sitaram Yechury
Demanding that “in order to reach at the root of terror in India, all the blast cases which are being investigated by different agencies, should be carried out by a single agency afresh,” Mr. Singh, said that, “ I feel ashamed that my home state, Madhya Pradesh has been the abode of masterminds of terror activities.”
Regarding the ban on RSS, as “unfruitful” because it will create another front anyways, the former Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh highlighted the “urgent need to fight against the ideology of RSS.”
Targeting L.K. Advani, Mr. Singh said, “The Rath Yatra started by Advaniji was at the root cause of communal violence across the country. It is BJP which has been doing communal politic. Therefore, whenever it is weak, it comes out with new filthy games, be it the matter of Ramjanambhoomi in Ayodhya or flag hoisting in Kashmir.”
Mr. Singh also asked, “Why don’t they (BJP leaders) hoist tricolor at the RSS headquarters in Nagpur?”
Asking the media to cover sensitive issues like terrorism and terror trials, responsibly, senior Journalist Seema Mustafa said, “Today media is being controlled by the corporate sector therefore it doesn’t care about the issue of justice. It tags the arrested person as guilty even when the judiciary hasn’t pronounced its verdict.”
A view of audience
Several terror victims and their relatives narrated their painful tales at the conference which left the audience emotional.
Earlier, in her inaugural speech, Shabnam Hashmi of Act Now for Harmony And Democracy (ANHAD), said: “There are people with RSS mentality in every political party, police and investigative agency. Therefore, Muslims youths are being fabricated in terror cases.”
Questioning the unresponsive attitude of the government on this issue, Ms. Hashmi said, “Is the government serious in getting these Muslim youths justice or does it want to prove that Muslims are second class citizens in this democratic secular republic?”
Besides demanding compensation and rehabilitation package for the affected innocent Muslim youths, she urged the government to take action against the concerned police officers who wrongly targeted them.
Ms. Hashmi also demanded that the foreign sources of funding of the Hindutva organizations should be investigated, besides, an apology should be issued by the respective state governments to the persons unfairly targeted in terror cases.
The day-long conference was organized by several civil society groups namely ANHAD, Bhartiya Muslim Mahila Andolan, Foundation for Civil Liberties, INSAF, Jamia Teacher’s Solidarity Association, SANDARBH and SIASAT, Hyderabad.