Deal firmly with Hindutva terror, says CPI-M

NEW DELHI - The Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) Thursday accused the central government of “lack of clarity and firmness” in dealing with “Hindutva terror” targeting Muslims.

“The UPA (United Progressive Alliance) government has shown lack of clarity and firmness in dealing with Hindutva terror,” the CPI-M said in a statement.

“Hopefully, the latest revelations regarding the Ajmer and Hyderabad blasts will end this pusillanimous approach,” it said.

The statement followed the arrest of three men for the Ajmer Sharif dargah blast of 2007, which the CPI-M said was “further confirmation that extremist Hindutva groups are resorting to terrorist violence”.

The police have linked the suspects to the Hindu outfit Abhinav Bharat, which has also been linked to the Malegaon bombing of 2008.

“More significantly, the investigation has yielded a lead to the Mecca Masjid blast in Hyderabad which took place in May 2007 in which nine people were killed and 58 injured. The SIM card found at the site of the blast in Ajmer belongs to the same batch used to trigger the blast in Hyderabad.

“The Hindu extremist groups had targeted, in all three cases, Muslims. In Ajmer and Hyderabad, they were religious places of worship and in Malegaon the blast occurred where Muslims gathered for prayers.”

The CPI-M pointed out that in 2006 two Bajrang Dal activists were killed while making bombs in Nanded, Maharashtra. “These two men were responsible for the bombing of a mosque in Parbhani district.”

Earlier, activists of the Nanded cell had carried out attacks at Jalna and Purna in 2003, the party said.

“The intelligence and security establishments in India have been reluctant to recognise this reality. They are fixated on terrorism emanating from Muslim extremism and its external links,” it said.

“Otherwise, the investigation into the horrific Samjhauta Express blast would not have reached a dead end. The target was the train to Pakistan filled with Muslims. Yet, stories were planted of extremist groups from Pakistan being responsible for this gruesome attack.”

It added: “The terrorist attacks in Malegaon, Hyderabad and Ajmer must be seen as the handiwork of a network of Hindutva extremist groups. They are a mirror image of their Muslim counterparts. What is required therefore is a coordinated investigation into all these attacks.”