RSS activities should be monitored, says Congress
By IANSWednesday, October 27, 2010
NEW DELHI - The Congress Wednesday said that activities of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) should be closely monitored and it was for the government to decide if any action should be taken against the organisation.
Their (RSS) activities should be closely watched and monitored. It is for the government to decide if any action should be taken, Congress spokesman Manish Tewari told mediapersons here.
Referring to the remarks of RSS leaders that the probe in the Ajmer blast case was political and vindictive, Tewari said the organisation was adopting a negative attitude in a criminal case.
He said that the RSS arguments were weak and a sign of its nervousness.
The RSS needs to introspect what is wrong with its ideology that it gives birth to fundamentalism. Whenever RSS’ name has cropped up, it has been in a negative context, he said.
Three people were killed and 30 injured in the Ajmer blast at Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti’s shrine in 2007.
Referring to names of Devender, Lokesh Sharma, Sandeep Dange, Chander Shekhar Lave and Sunil Joshi, who have been charged with conspiracy in the Ajmer blast case by Rajasthan police, Tewari alleged they had past or present connections with the RSS.
He said that name of RSS leader Indresh Kumar has also been mentioned in the charge sheet.
Tewari said that till the time lower-rung RSS leaders were being caught, the organisation’s stance was reasonable but after leaders like Indersh Kumar were named in the police charge sheet, it was betraying uneasiness.
Whether he (Indresh Kumar) is involved or not will be decided by the Ajmer court. But the organisation needs to introspect and reflect about its ideology, he said.
Tewari said incidents like Ajmer blast also undermine India’s principled position on terror.
He said it was true that one kind of fundamentalism provided a breeding ground for another kind of terrorism.
Asked about party general secretary Rahul Gandhi’s comparison between the RSS and the banned Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI), Tewari said it was important to note the context in which the party leader had spoken.
Tewari said Gandhi was asked a question about the ideology needed to join the Congress and he said that the ideology should be secular and not like that of the SIMI and the RSS.
