Author: Meenakshi Rao
Publication: The Pioneer
Date: November 16, 2008
URL: http://dailypioneer.com/134640/Can-we-please-nail-the-truth.html
Something new has come up on the Indian spectrum
- something called "Hindu terror." Besides sounding alien, it also
sounds alarming.
So far, no Hindu party has gone the whole
hog to justify it as "reaction not terror." Privately, they say
it is a witchhunt, a ploy by the "Government-controlled ATS" to
divert attention from UPA's real laxity towards terrorists and also a means
to get some brownie points for the upcoming elections.
All this may be the case, but fact is that
there was a blast in Malegaon and six innocent people died. Even if a little-known
and a barely followed Hindu outfit could have been involved in triggering
a blast anywhere in India, it gives tremendous cause for concern - mostly
because this means that the till-now strong fabric of Indian society stands
changed forever, that irreparable damage may have already been done to it,
that the situation from hereon is only slated to get more violent, more polarised
and worse than ever before.
Hinduism has withstood the pressures of attacks,
invasions and limitations of turf for centuries. It is neither expansionist
nor does it believe in intolerance. Added to that is the traditional DNA of
an average Hindu which radicals may tag as "loser" but more practically
it is the hallmark of his quiet strength against all odds.
That there had to be some reaction among the
modern-day Hindus to the sustained terror killings by Islamic forces, that
the Government would do precious little to curb, let alone end that, was a
possibility that had entered intense drawing room speculation.
But to actually have the Government say without
doubt that a terror attack was engineered by a Hindu outfit, with the involvement
of a serving Armyman and some sadhus, was shocking enough to still be considered
incredible. Only time will tell how true allegations on both sides of the
spectrum are - whether it is a calculated and dangerous gameplan, or an actual
case of counter terror - as things stand today, a lot of moral high-ground
has been lost.
Till now, "all terrorists are Muslims"
was a line with no contradictions. Till now, the innocent man had been victim
of only one kind of religious violence. But now, there will be so many voices
- both Hindu and Muslim - blaming each other of oneupmanship. That this would
be at the sole cost of the common man is unfortunate.
One can only pray, that Malegaon is a peripheral
case of reaction, terror or whatever. It looks like it, because, as I said,
Hinduism does not genetically have the drive to go on a killing spree. It
can barely shout and scream against oppression, it can barely get together
on punishment to, say an Afzal Guru, it is yet to end the debate on secular
vs pseudo-secular. Can such a disorganised religion actually carry on a bloody
campaign on any ground over any issue? Does not seem likely.
As for the men and woman who are being questioned
by the ATS for the Malegaon blasts, the investigating agency does seem to
have gone over the top in leaking information about almost everything about
the investigation - some nuggets of "confessions" sounding more
ridiculous than birds swimming in oceanic deep.
Also to be noted is the fact that somewhere
along the ATS trail, both the public and the authorities have forgotten to
follow-up on the Jamia encounter, the serial blasts from Bangalore to Delhi
to Assam, and where Tauqeer has vanished, how a demographically changed North-East
is about to be exploded by illegal migrants and how there has been no progress
- none at all - on all previous terror cases. By all means, go after Abhinav
Bharat if it did Malegoan, but not with motive beyond brief.
