Saffron Terrorism is Real
The Home Minister of India P Chidambaram found himself in the middle of a major controversy when he made a few comments relating to terrorism while addressing the chiefs of police forces. Chidambaram said “There is no let-up in attempts to radicalize young men and women in India. Besides, there is the recently uncovered phenomenon of saffron terrorism that has been implicated in many bomb blasts of the past”. Conservative Hindus were stunned to hear a senior cabinet minister talk so openly about Hindu terrorism. Most of them were not even willing to concede that there is something called “saffron terrorism”.
The main opposition BJP President Nitin Gadkari responded by saying “I do not believe that there is any such thing as saffron terrorism. The Congress talks about it only for its vote bank politics…Long back, secularism used to mean respect for all religions, but for Congress today it means only appeasement of minorities”. Accusing the Congress Party of appeasing minorities in India is a classic BJP strategy that has worked in the past.
Congress does appease the minorities because they are one of their major vote banks. What BJP fails to come to terms with is that the vast majority of people who vote for the Congress Party are moderate and liberal Hindus who are fed up with Hindutva. The party that once had broad based middle class support (mostly in North India) is now a shell of its former self. Many of its Hindutva goals have been taken over by much more radical Hindu parties and organizations. It is a party without an identity at the moment. But that is another subject.
Saffron terrorism is a reality. To argue otherwise would be foolish. There are at least five cases in the past couple of years which the government believes was either organized or conducted by Hindu extremists groups. They include blasts in Mecca Masjid in Hyderabad (May 18, 2007), Ajmer (October 11, 2007), Malegaon in Maharashtra (September 8, 2006), Modasa in Gujarat and one of the recent blasts in Goa.
These incidents are relatively minor compared to the Pakistan sponsored terrorist acts in India, terrorist acts committed by militant Indian Islamic groups or the terrorist acts committed by the so-called Maoists. But they are terrorist acts nonetheless and mainstream Hindus have a lot of reasons to be worried about.
The myth that Hinduism is a peace loving religion will be busted the moment you go to the online discussion boards of India’s most important newspapers and television channels (both English and local language). You will see a level of hatred and animosity towards the minorities that you might not think exists in India. Ignorance is bliss in these forums.
Fortunately these vocal but fundamentalist groups do not represent mainstream Hinduism (only about 10% of Indians have internet access). Hinduism itself is so diverse that it is very difficult for a group or a few organizations to speak on behalf of Hinduism. Then there is always the natural divide between the politics of the North and Central Indian states and the politics of the South.
Indians in two successive elections have spoken loudly and clearly about the type of politics they want from the government. They want moderate and centrist policies. Although I am not a fan of the Congress Party, most reasonable people would agree that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has been able to keep India on the right economic path which is extremely important when it comes to alleviating poverty.
But if you listen to the fundamentalists you will get the impression that the UPA government somehow is a minority government, that nothing positive is going on in India today, that Manmohan Singh knows nothing and that the country is somehow under siege by the Muslims and by Pakistan. This is a bunch of bull.
BJP President Nitin Gadkari in his response to P Chidambaram also said “Terrorists are terrorists irrespective of their religion and it won’t be proper to classify them on that basis”. He is absolutely correct. I only hope that his party does a better job of educating its own supporters about terrorists being terrorists!!
“Intolerance is itself a form of violence and an obstacle to the growth of a true democratic spirit” – Mahatma Gandhi
Related posts:
- Is India or America Better At Tackling Terrorism?
- Sonia Gandhi Destroying Indian Religion, Culture and Traditions
- The Back Seat Drivers
- Wedge Politics in India
- Indian Politics: Secularism and Pseudo-Secularism
Category: News & Government
Spot on. There’s nothing “peaceful” about those Hindus who spew their venom and hate against minorities on blogs and bulletin boards.
My only consolation is that I see more or less the same people on all of them – giving me hope that it’s only a small shrill minority trying to whip up hatred.
They are small in number but they are very vocal. I was recently reading the comments on Times of India. This article was about NRI’s from Andhra Pradesh returning to India. I could not believe some of the comments directed against NRI’s.
hmmmm …. Colours of Terrorism
http://bamulahija.blogspot.com/2010/08/blog-post_28.html
Welcome … the cartoon was funny.
Thank you for this blog post. I’d been scouring the net for articles on ‘saffron terror’ for I was myself unsure of what it indicated. Now atleast I think I know a wee little bit.
Welcome Samadrita. Hinduism is normally associated with the Saffron color.
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Have u seen it the other way round???
And, if congress can shamelessly appease the Muslims then why blame BJP for doing the same with Hindu. and yeah, im no great supporter of BJP either..
Btw, im all against terrorism, gimmi a gun and i will shoot both types, saffron or green!
Ajay … there is a difference between appeasing your vote bank (as Congress does with Muslims and BJP does with Hindus) and supporting terrorism.
@Ajay – you are all against terrorism, but you are asking for a gun… ironic.
@ram:
So you want to send Osama to the Art of living course? :).. No need for army in this world then… isn’t it..
Im against terrorism, but the harsh reality is that there are going to be terrorists and they have to be first tried to convince and then necessarily shot. Did not US ask the taliban to handover Osama? wht happened? Ok they did not get him on their own either; thts another argument altogether..:)
@hari: Agree. but unfortunately thts not the case.
The American strategy in Iraq and Afghanistan has failed. Most Americans will acknowledge this fact. It is not easy to solve the problem of “terrorism” by using might.
partially agree that might is not the way to solve the problem. In that case India should not have had any maoist kind of situation..
Unfortunately, some ppl do not understand words, only bullets.
No doubt it has failed, but wht could have been the alternative?
Dialogue with osama!:) i dont think so!
Maybe cut deals and pay off people like America successfully did in Iraq. America has no problem talking to the likes of Osama until they started turning against them. I think bullets work if we are talking about criminals on the run or an unpopular movement etc. But when a movement has mass support whether it is in Afghanistan, Pakistan or Maoism in India it is very difficult to end it using violence.
Hari,
I would have been impressed had Chidambaram actually used the term “Hindu terror” just on the lines of “Islamic terror”, but he did not do that.
I do not believe that terrorists do not have a religion, they certainly do, and many such terrorists shielded by religion, precisely because organized religion is all about unquestioned faith (either in God or religious ‘leader’). Organized religion is the strongest entity that is against rational questioning. The idea of unquestioned faith and support forms a fertile ground for formation of a cult that can eventually turn violent to protect its identity from (perceived, which might or might not exist in reality) or to assert its supremacy.
In most simple terms, religious identity serves to substitute for lack of self-esteem that youth suffers from when it dawns upon them that as individuals they just don’t matter.
So, it should not be surprising that just like people of other religions, if Hindu youth gets gripped in insecurity or the urge to assert its supremacy and resorts to terror. Of course, when I say it should not be surprising, I don’t mean that it is not a cause for worry or that it does not need to be curbed.
Some Hindus point out that Hindu scriptures do not prescribe violence against people of other beliefs and also cite things like “vashudhaiva kutmba kam”, but I believe these are of only academic significance. If somebody gets killed in the real world, what is written in the scripture is of no significance, except for if the scripture itself had helped someone to overcome their conscience and helped reinforce cruelty.
Having said all this, it is also important to find out what alienates the youth? Is it brainwashing or is it some real grudges? What makes them risk their own lives and career and happiness?
But that has to be done with honesty, without stupid rhetoric like “terrorism has no religion”. Every society promotes certain kinds of ethos (akin to memetics). If we do not counter what in the society promotes violence, then there is only downhill course from there on.
I believe, that fundamental cause is sanctuary accorded to the organized religion, that it and its representatives cannot be questioned and that their exhortations cannot be defied. The idea that questioning something amounts to its insult has to be removed from the society.
Thanks for reading my rant! :)
Ketan,
I agree that the choice of words was poor. But there is some substance behind what he said. I also agree with most of what you said about violence and religion. In addition, I think that time has come to remove the special status that governments all across the world give to religion and religious organizations. The tax exempt status has to be revoked and they should be scrutinized as any other for profit business. In many countries religion and politics have merged. You can say anything and do anything to get people to support you or your organization.
I also believe that individuals who use religion to perpetuate violence will be with us for a very long period irrespective of what society does. We cannot eliminate them (I do not mean in a violent way) but learn to live with them and limit the damage. In the long term a very good educational system that is based on scientific fundamentals and an honest view of history combined with an open society that is willing to challenge these fundamentalists and extremists will hopefully cure this addiction to religion.
It was pleasure reading your rant :)
Sorry for the typos, should have reviewed before pushing the button.
Not a problem. Spelling and grammar are overrated. Communication is all we need!!
Not a supporter of Terrorism, let it be by Hindus though,
(I am the follower of Hindu Lady ruler known as AhilyaBai Holkar of Indore, who ordered elephant smoothering of his own son due to his wrong deeds)
But seeing the scenerio in the right perspective and without following what masses are made to believe is what I normally follow.
Read the article below published in rediff by colonel Anil Athale
“The LeT terror campaign is backed by the power and resources of a state. To compare this with the acts of a crowd of motley Hindu extremists is like equating chalk with cheese, says Colonel (retd) Anil Athale.
The recent controversy over a politician’s remark on ‘Hindu terror’ and another gem of invoking visions of an India [ Images ]n Hitler [ Images ] need to be dismissed with contempt they deserve. The former American Ambassador to India, David Mulford’s comment that Indian politicians can stoop to any level to garner votes is a ringing indictment of this tribe of politicians.
But such is the power of repetition of lies that there is a great danger of these becoming self-fulfilling prophesies and therefore need to be challenged. An even greater reason is that a politician in wilderness (and a former chief minister) has insinuated that (just like Pakistan) ‘saffron’ terror has infiltrated even the Indian armed forces. He approvingly quotes the example of a lone wolf rogue officer who is alleged to have got involved in terrorist acts. In the interest of national security, these wild assertions need to be challenged.
Terror threats that India faces:
As a multi-ethnic, religious and linguistic subcontinent, India faces many revolts backed by narrow ideologies. There is the separatist movement in Kashmir valley (not Jammu and Kashmir [ Images ] but only the valley), Assam, Manipur and Nagaland. In addition there is an on going unrest in heartland of India where the Communist insurgents want to overthrow the state and usher in ‘their’ version of ‘people’s republic’, popularly called Naxalites [ Images ]. All these movements indulge in use of terror tactics off and on.
In addition to the above, since last two years, a motley group of Hindu extremists have taken to ‘retaliate’ for the past acts of terror attributed to Islamist terror groups located in Pakistan and who receive some support from fringe element of Indian Muslims.
The groups like the Students Islamic Movement of India or its latest avatar, the Indian Mujahedeen, are essentially an extension of the Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Tayiba [ Images ].
A brief look at statistics shows that in the last five years the LeT-led combine has carried out ten major attacks in which over 625 Indians have been killed and over 3,000 have been wounded seriously. Equally startling is the fact that so far not a single terrorist involved in these activities has been punished. Most of the investigations have reached a dead end or the perpetrators have fled to Pakistan. The alleged saffron terror is linked to four incidents in which over 19 people have lost their lives and a few score have been wounded.
But even more telling is the fact that the LeT-led campaign against India is essentially a joint enterprise with Pakistan Army [ Images ] (through the Inter Services Intelligence). While in all other insurgencies including the one in Kashmir valley, there is an element of external support (The Naga rebels do receive Chinese help), the LeT-led campaign is unique in that it is a virtual proxy war launched by one state against the other by using the tactic of deniability.
The Late Krishna Menon, India’s de facto foreign minister in the 1950s and early 1960s, was of the view that “Pakistan views partition as only a beginning. Her idea is to get a jumping off point to take the whole of India. Their minds work in this way — that it was from the Mughals that the British took over. Now that the British have gone back, the Muslims must come back.” (Breacher Michael, “India and World Politics: Krishna Menon’s View of the World”, Oxford, London [ Images ], 1968. page 171)
Even the former Pakistani dictator General Pervez Musharaf is on record to having admitting that even if Kashmir issue is resolved, relations with India would remain stormy.
The LeT terror campaign against India is thus backed by the power and resources of a state. To compare this with the acts of a crowd of motley Hindu extremists is like equating chalk with cheese.
Religious fundamentalism and terrorism: A tenuous link!
Even since Al Qaeda [ Images ] and Osama Bin Laden [ Images ] invoked religion to justify their terror attacks, the terrorism tag has been unfortunately put on the religion of Islam. A little introspection will show that the Al Qaeda’s newly found belief in the Islamic cause is fake. Osama never tires of invoking the cause of Palestine (and now even Kashmir) to justify his actions. But wasn’t the same Osama happily collaborating with the hated Americans through the decade of 1980′s in Afghanistan? Was America then not supporting Israel?
The truth is that Osama’s basic aim is to grab power in Saudi Arabia. He felt that he had an IoU from the Americans on this. But once the first Afghan war was over, the Americans apparently refused to oblige him. It is only then that he remembered the plight of Palestine/Kashmir.
A general study of 9/11 bombers or even the latest failed Time Square terrorist do not show much direct connection between religious fundamentalism and terrorism. None of these were typically religious people. An MIT study has also similarly shown that there no direct link between poverty and terrorism. Though undoubtedly, like the lone surviving terrorist of Mumbai [ Images ] attack did belong to a poor family, his motivations seem very clearly money!
The growth of religious fundamentalism can indeed provoke riots and disturb peace but by itself cannot lead to terrorism. It is true that riots or mob violence is bad, but it is a like a crime of passion, whereas terrorism is like a pre-meditated mass murder. It is necessary to clearly distinguish these two.
Terrorism [ Images ] that the world faces today is essentially a power struggle and proxy war to achieve this worldly aim. Religion is used only as a cloak to hide the true intentions, be it Osama or the LeT. Even the TTP (Tehrik-e-Taliban-e-Pakistan) is similarly out to grab power in that country.
It is unfortunate that the current political power struggle got the ‘Islamist’ tag because the terrorist’s themselves invoked religious sanction for their acts by selectively quoting from the holy book.
Luckily for the Indian subcontinent, the fact that in Pakistan in last five years there have been over 42 attacks on mosques and over 530 worshippers have been killed while performing namaaz. In the entire period of 63 years these many attacks have not taken place in India. The Indians who fall into the LeT trap must look at this reality and honestly answer the question whether they are safe in India or Pakistan?
One is aware that the incidents of the Gujarat riots in 2002 will be evoked. But the fact is that in these riots (according to the Union home ministry) 800 people lost their lives. Besides this, 232 (mostly from the majority community) were killed in police firing! When one alludes to the ghost of Hitler and German genocide of Jews, one must ask a question, were any Germans killed by their police for attacking Jews? Our modern politicians seem to have not read much history but have surely studied Gobbles’ quite thoroughly, and have succeeded in repeating a lie again and again to make it an established fact. This does not in any way condone partisan behaviour of the police or even inability of the government to control the violence quickly enough.
But the worst is the snide attempt to drag the armed forces into the controversy. One would like to remind these unworthies that the armed forces of India have always acted with utmost impartiality in these situations. If any one has doubt go and ask Kutubuddin Ansari, a tailor from Ahmedabad [ Images ], who told this author with tears in his eyes that it was the timely arrival of the army that saved him and his family.
By sowing doubts about the integrity of armed forces whose interest is this person serving?t
We have go lot of traitors before, and now in the list of those are Mr Dijvijay singh, don’t know upto what level these people can go to remain in power..
Paras,
I prefer if you write your own comments rather than copy and paste entire articles by others.
The article by Anil Athale in my opinion for the most part states the obvious. Right now there is a big difference between terrorist act committed on Indian soil that is sponsored by Pakistan and terrorism by Hindu extremists groups. But totally denying the existence of Saffron terrorism (as the RSS did a few days ago) will not wash anymore.
There is also no denying the fact that a very tiny section of the Hindu society is getting radicalized. In everyday conversations, on the internet and even in this blog I am hearing comments against minorities and even against Hindus like me who are liberal that I definitely did not hear about 10 years ago.
In the article that you posted the following statement is made “We have go lot of traitors before, and now in the list of those are Mr Dijvijay singh, don’t know upto what level these people can go to remain in power”. Traitor is a very powerful word. We have to use words like these carefully. Digvijay Singh has been elected by the people of Madhya Pradesh twice as their Chief Minister. He is the General Secretary of the most dominant political party in India. How can he be labeled a “traitor”? A citizen of India has the right to criticize our armed forces. It was a poor decision on his part to level the kind of criticism that he did. But that does not make him a traitor. This is the type of radicalization that I am talking about.
U ignored my original comment (my first paragraph) totally and wanted to talk on further..
Its your choice how u fare ur justification about saffron terror.
I and many indian reminds of the saffron color as the freedom struggle color during British Raj, let it be hold by hindu or by anybody during those time. U can framed it as specific to hindu, this is called Polarisation and bifurgating the section of people in the country.
I need not to explain it to you as its you who know more about you than anybody.
Now comes to the term used called traitor.
Any body who tries to divide the Community / country DANGEROUSLY (Read it on bold) let it be Varun Gandhi(on his remark made during election campaign of BJP) or let it be Digvijay Singh (who give enough reason to Pakistan to counter us now diplomatically)and more so tring to divide the two community are traitor.
Yes with all senses I consider him traitor, sorry, if it hurts you as a common man. But that does not change my position for Digvijay and Chidambaram.
And again more so because they held responsible position in the Govt of india and used some words which has got lot of influence on Britishers as detterent and lot of influence to indians as proud, so now they are even bigger Traitor than Varun Gandhi.
Also I choose words with great care unlike you and Bharat Patel who uses while commenting against Swami Ramdev
Paras,
I will end the thread between us by stating the following:
Saffron terror is real. Please don’t try to change the subject by talking about freedom struggle and all that. Indian freedom was won by people from all sections of our society and not just people waving the saffron flag.
Check out the confession message issued by Swami Aseemanand to the CBI. He confessed to Hindu terrorist’s involvement in the Samjhauta Express blast which resulted in the death of almost 70 people. In his confession Aseemanand said “I told everyone that a bomb must be responded with a bomb and that Hindus are sitting quietly and this is not good”. Talking about Hindu fundamentalism and extremism is not polarization and bifurcation. It is about stating the facts.
You are not harming me by calling someone a traitor without any evidence. Your comments in my article about Ram Dev and this article indicates that you have a dislike for the Congress and the Congress leaders. You are a Ramdev loyalist and this is evident to any neutral observer. Every politician tries to divide and rule and that includes Ramdev. But I would not label him a traitor because of that.