With arrest of some persons belonging to Hindu extremist organization for their involvement in Malegoan Muslim graveyard bomb blast, the Samjutha express train bomb blast and the Ajmer Dargah blast, the ugly face of Hindutva terrorism has been unmasked.
The probe into these blasts making some headway clearly points a pan India Hindu terror structure operating in the country, a fact so far the government and we the people has refused to accept.
In the series of these blasts targeting Muslims, there is also the case of bomb blast that took place in Hyderabad at Makkah Masjid on 18th May 2007, but the investigation of this case has hardly made any breakthrough.
The kin of the deceased are observing the third anniversary of the dead in the hope that the long arm of the state may one day reach the real conspirators and bring them to justice.
It was on 18th May 2007, a bomb blast took place the historic Makka Masjid located in the old city of Hyderabad that killed five Muslims praying in the mosque. The blast had left scores of others injured.
Subsequently, those Muslims who were helping the blast victims to shift in the hospitals were fired upon by the police that killed nine of them. The probe of these two incidents is gathering dust and its no one is sure when the truth will come out in this case and when the guilty may be punished.
The Makkah Masjid blast is a unique case among all the blast cases in India. This is because the victim and suspect in this case both happen to be the Muslims. First the blast killed the innocent Muslims who were praying, this followed the police firing that killed those Muslims who were helping the blast victims to shift in the hospitals. There were more Muslims killed in police firing than in the bomb blast. Subsequently, in the name of investigation, police targeted innocent Muslim youths arresting hundreds of them, harassing and torturing them.
A fact finding committee of civil liberties group comprising of some eminent citizens of Hyderabad investigated the two incidents and has come out with a report that is worth considering for long term national security purposes.
The committee clearly stated that the blast was the handiwork of the extremist Hindutva forces and the firing was ordered by the some anti-Muslim police officers within the rank and file of the state police.
The civil liberties committee particularly mentions the name of the then additional commissioner of police, Rajiv Trivedi and inspector Ramchandran who played an important role in feeding the name of one Shahed Bilal, a Bangladeshi responsible for the blast.
The fact finding report further says that some police officer were misguiding the investigation by registering two cases for a single offence, one for bombs that got exploded and other those unexploded. They handed over the case of exploded bombs to the CBI and kept unexploded bomb case with themselves.
The fact finding committee also lampooned the print and electronic media especially the regional press the Telugu media that has played a negative role, publishing and telecasting false stories by depicting Muslim youths as terrorists in this case.
The electronic media within five minutes of the blast drummed up the name of Shahed Bilal, citing reference of the officers. The television media reported that Shahed Bilal triggered the bomb from Bangladesh through his cell phone. The print media published the story that Shahed Bilal celebrated the blast by distributing sweets while sitting in Bangladesh.
Now since three years have elapsed to the incident, there is absolutely no clue to the investigators who has committed the crime of bomb blast at Makkah Masjid. Initial suspicion fell on the Muslims and they were arrested and harassed. Subsequently, the court exonerated them from all the charges as no evidence was found against.
Here, it needs to be recalled that last year when Home Minister, P.C Chidambaram visited Hyderabad and asked about the investigation of the Makkah Masjid blast case, he commented saying that the main accused of blast, Shahed Bilal has died and the case has turned cold! The statement reflects the commitment towards the issues of national security.
Anyway, now when it’s established that the Hindutva terrorist are active in the country, and had an explicit role in Malegoan Muslim graveyard bomb blast, the Samjutha express train bomb blast, and the Ajmer Dargah blast, its high time the probe of the Makkah Masjid bomb blast, has to be ordered afresh with new leads emerging from other such cases.
There is a feeling among a section of the society that it’s due to the lethargic attitude of the investigators and their non-committal attitude to crack this case, innocent persons are being targeted where as the culprits are roaming freely.
It’s also being felt that the biggest conspiracy of the Hindutva terrorists is to make use of their sympathizers among the police personnel to serve their nefarious ends. The Hindutva terrorists are posing a greatest threat to the national security and if their activities are not checked now, like the Maoist, they may become uncontrollable.
As far as the police firing that took place immediately after the blast, the Andhra Pradesh government had constituted the Bhaskar Rao commission to investigate the incident. Even after three years, the commission has failed to submit its report. This shows the non-seriousness of the commission to lead an unbiased probe of the police firing and its negligent attitude is shielding the guilty officers from being indicted.
Now when the Hindutva terrorism has been exposed, there is an urgent need for handing over these two cases to the CBI for investigation. The CBI shuld expose the real face of the Hindutva terror operatives and arrest the real culprits of terror acts. The CBI should also investigate the nexus of Hindutva terrorists and some anti-Muslim police officers who ordered firing on the armless people.
The investigation should expose that there are many Hindutva sleeper cells in the country and suggest how to confront with such kind indoctrinated people who are n prowl to kill and create mayhem in the country.
Now when the courts are exonerating Muslim youth arrested for the Makkah Masjid bomb blast, the government should take stringent action against the police officers responsible for the illegal detention harassment, torture and arrest of innocent Muslim youth.
The government should direct the police to stop labeling the Muslim community as terrorist, harassing, torturing and terrorizing its youth.
It should also direct to stop terrorizing people in the name of red alert, checking on the roads, and all unnecessary actions in the Muslim populated areas.
Its felt that the government and police personnel should change their attitude towards the RSS and its allied outfits and their activities should be checked appropriately.
The Bhaskar Rao Commission should be activated immediately and asked to submit its report in a particular time frame.
At a time when the inland national security is under threat from different actors, this new facet of Hindutva terrorism that is creeping into the body and soul of India is posing grave danger to the country. An ostrich like attitude towards this fact, may likely to bleed India for times to come.
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Syed Ali Mujtaba is working journalist based in Chennai. He can be contacted at syedalimujtaba@yahoo.com