By Rehan Ansari, TwoCircles.net,
Mumbai: It took Maharashtra government many blasts, continuous demand from the civil society and at last a recommendation of the state Anti-Terrorist Squad to consider – yes just consider a ban on Sanatan Sanstha. The Hindu extremist outfit is alleged to have been involved in bomb blast in Thane district and other parts of Maharashtra besides Goa.
Supporting the move to ban the group, Mr. Arif Nasim Khan, Ministry of Minority Affairs, Maharashtra, told TwoCircles.net: “I have been demanding a ban since ATS Maharashtra Chief Hemant Karkare sought a ban on Sanstha when its 6 members were allegedly found involved in a blast in a theater at Thane and Vashi.”
Two persons, owing allegiance to the Sanstha, were also allegedly involved in the 2009 blasts in Margao, Goa, on the eve of Diwali, which left three people dead.
Most of the radical Hindu outfits involved in terror related cases are found based in Maharashtra. Two activists of right wing Hindu organization were found dead while making a bomb in Nanded. They were also allegedly involved in bomb blasts in Parbhani, Jalna and Purna districts of Maharashtra. Besides, Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur from Madhya Pradesh and her Abhinav Bharat group members, based in Maharashtra, have been found behind the 2008 blasts in Malegaon.
Jitendra Awhad, MLA of ruling partner NCP, has confirmed the government move to consider ban on Sanstha. “The government is really serious about it and working on a proposal to be sent to the government of India,” he told TCN.