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Certain happenings taking place in the southern States of Andhra
Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu for some time past have
not received due attention of the nation.
In Andhra Pradesh, the naxalite menace in Telengana continues
unabated. A few Years back the naxalites "issued notices" to the
collectors of the districts that on Independence Day the national
flag should not be hoisted in the collectorates and they were not
hoisted. Many times police parties have been ambushed and some
have lost their lives. Its not long when a Vidhyarthi Parishad
activist of Osmania University, was murdered. The BJP, the RSS and
the ABVP activists have been the main targets of the naxalites.
The successive State Governments have so far been failed in
preventing this menace. Does not the Central Government owe any,
responsibility to its citizens for the protection of their lives?
There have been reports that Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence
is active in Karnataka which has been alleged of engineering
communal tensions in the State. Parties like the Congress and the
Janata Dal, which have always exploited Muslims for their own
political gains, have been holding the RSS responsible for any
communal riots. But the recent report of Justice Kadambadi
Jagannatha Shetty Commission, appointed on September 16, 1993, to
enquire into the communal violence that had rocked Bhatkal town in
the Uttara Kannada district of Karnataka for nine months (from
April 1993), has held "From the evidence of the witnesses it is
established that Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) was
secretly- operating through its agents in Bhatkal (and) causing
disturbances." The commission has also cleared the BJP, the RSS,
the VHP and the Hindu Jagaran Vedike of the charge that they
fuelled violence.
ISI's choosing only a taluka town to establish its centre and
foment communal clashes indicates that the ISI had widespread
Activities in Karnataka. In that case, should not the State
Government take immediate steps to root out the ISI from the State?
In Kerala, over the last 12 years, 126 activists, most of them from
the BJP, the RSS and the Vidhyarthi Parishad have been mercilessly
murdered. In most cases the culprits are alleged to be closely
connected with the CITU or the CPI(M) in Kerala.
Reports from Tamil Nadu reveal that since 1990 twenty-eight young
lives dedicated to serve the cause of the nation (all of them were
the RSS, BJP and Hindu Munnani activists) have been murdered by
some Muslim fundamentalist groups, aided and abetted by the ISI.
Also the RSS and Hindu Munnani offices were bombed during that
period. The Hindu Munnani State president was murdered. In none of
these killings have the culprits so far been apprehended and
chargesheeted or brought before the court of law and punished.
This violence began with the decision of the DMK Government in the
1980s to, name Dindigal district of Tamil Nadu as Quaide-Millet in
memory of Mohammed Ismail, president of the Muslim League. It was
opposed by the BJP, the RSS, the VHP and the Hindu Munnani on the
ground that the Muslim League was responsible for the Partition of
the country. The district could be named after a Muslim leader
like Seethakkadi who was highly respected by the people of Tamil
Nadu, they suggested.
Muslims stared mass conversions of the scheduled caste Hindus and
the first mass conversion took place at Meenakshipuram. This was
too opposed by the RSS by organising public meetings, conferences
and gatherings to mobilise the public opinion against such
conversions. The Hindu Munnani's celebrating the Ganesh festival
to instil social harmony into people was considered an "anti-Muslim
activity" not only by Muslims but also by those political parties
that rely on the Muslim vote-bank.
It is in this background that 28 murders have taken place. Although
the authorities concerned know that the Muslim fundamentalist
organisations backed by the ISI are behind these murders but no
action has been taken against them. It is also stated that arms
are being stored in the State, powerful bombs used to blow up the
RSS and the Hindu Munnani. offices bear testimony to this. The
then Minister of State for Home Affairs, Shri Rajesh Pilot, had
stated at the time of the RSS office blast that large quantities of
RDX were finding their way into Tamil Nadu. Last year when the
Kerala police captured 70 pipebombs in Malapuram district, their
intelligence report had stated that some agents from Tamil Nadu had
gone to Kerala to train their counterparts to manufacture
pipe-bombs. The Central and the State intelligence have conveyed
that the top leaders of the BJP and the Hindu Munnani are on the
hit-list of the Muslim fundamentalists.
Under these circumstances, the question arises whether the State
Governments are taking the necessary steps to check and root out
all these anti-national and anti-social activities, and if so, how?
is it not the basic responsibility of the Government to uphold the
right to life and property of every citizen irrespective of his or
her political or religious persuasion? If the State Governments
fail in their duty, what are the remedies open to those who are the
targets of such assaults?
These killings and murders in the southern States therefore, 90
unnoticed or with little reaction from the think tank. No public
opinion can be mobilised if a large section of the people choose to
be indifferent.
(The author is All India Vice-President, BJP.)
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