Why RSS Wants to Forget Pracharak Sunil Joshi’s Murder?

Courtesy Kafila.org
It was a murder of an old activist, which the RSS would love to forget. It is a different matter that despite the innumerable ways in which it has tried to banish the memory of the whole incident it has found it very difficult to get away with it. And with the latest exposures in the Ajmer Dargah bomb blast case the whole issue has once again returned to haunt it.

“A former RSS pracharak, who was an accused in the murder of a Congress leader and his son, was shot dead in Dewas town, about 35 kms from Indore, late on Saturday.
Sunil Joshi, 45, was strolling in Chuna Khadan locality when assailants, who used a Maruti van and a two-wheeler, shot him thrice. He was declared dead on arrival in the district hospital.”
(Indian Express, Posted: Mon Dec 31 2007, 00:00 hrs)

Yes, there was a time when the very name of this slain activist (a Pracharak in the Sangh parlance) evoked awe in the Malwa region of M.P. – supposed to be a stronghold of the Hindutva brigade. No doubt this clout had endeared him to many top leaders of the RSS as well as the BJP. And he was privy to many of their secrets as well. But all that is passe. Mention his name today in any gathering of these top leaders and you will either witness silence or many of his close associates in the Parivar presenting convoluted explanations to show distance from him.

Formally, at present he is a persona non grata in the Sangh Parivar.
It does not then appear surprising that although his murder occured more than two years ago but still officially nobody knows who planned it and then executed it. Despite the fact that the state government where the said murder occurred is being ruled by BJP not much headway could be made. In fact, after its own failure in unearthing the case, it did not deem it necessary even to ask the CBI (Central Bureau of Investigations) to take up the case. As of now, for the state government in M.P. and its police force as well as his Parivar people the preplanned murder of Sunil Joshi is a ‘closed file.’
The question naturally arises after all why did the RSS-BJP prefer to remain silent over the death of one of their Pracharaks and did not try to find out the real culprits behind the murder. Of course, it did make routine noises like blaming ‘Islamic terrorists’ for the act. Activists of Hindu organisations did cause a ruckus in the hospital where Sunil Joshi’s body was taken after the bullets of the assasins hit him, they did block traffic on the Agra-Bombay highway for some time, and gave a bandh call next day in protest. There were also reports in a section of the media about the way in which they tried to avenge his death by attacking innocents unrelated to the whole case. For example, in Putarkheda village, 30 kilometres from Dewas, a family belonging to a minority community was attacked by miscreants on the day of the bandh . Abdul Rashid was shot dead while three of his family members were injured in the attack. One of them was shot at, one was stabbed and the third’s face was scalded when the assailants threw acid at him.

Last days of this Pracharak are also confounded in mystery.There were reports that at the time of his death that Sunil Joshi was leading an underground type of life. Why was he compelled to do that despite BJP being in power in the state ? Did he have the premonition that someone was after him and he had to defend himself. ? Who wanted to kill/eliminate him ? Whether a section of the Sangh/BJP Parivar itself had felt threatened with his activities and wanted him banished from the scene as he was privy to many of their secrets ? Or did the Parivar itself, which demanded utmost secrecy, entrust him with some special mission.
As it always happens needle of suspicion in this case did move initially towards the ‘usual suspects’ i.e. the omnipresent Jihadi/fassadi terror groups but looking back one finds that these allegations were for public consumption only. If that would have been really the case, the overactive Hindutva regime in the state could have arrested many innocents from the minority community and had seen to it that life is made miserable for their family members also. But that did not happen. A more plausible explanation behind this murder then seems to be the internecine differences within the larger Parivar itself over matters other than politics. Were it over funds collected by these fanatics to further more violent version of the Hindutva project. Later day developments seem to corroborate this explanation.
All these questions have become very relevant as with the latest exposures in the Ajmer dargah bomb blast case another RSS Pracharak – a close friend/associate of Sunil Joshi – named Devender Gupta and Chandrasekhar Patidar have been arrested for their involvement in the execution of this dastardly plot. And a close link between three bomb blasts -Malegoan blast (Sep 2008), Ajmer dargah bomb blast and Mecca Masjid bomb blast – and their perpetrators has emerged. Devender Gupta alias Ramesh Kumar is learnt to be the mastermind in training people in use of explosives and (to quote Mr Digvijay Singh further) “..used to train activists of Vishwa Hindu Parishad and Bajrang Dal in bomb making. He use to stay with RSS Pracharak Sunil Joshi in Dewas and also happened to be one of the accused in the Mhow bomb blast,2001, where six members of RSS and VHP were found to be involved.” ( Jagran Rashtriya, 15 th May 2010, translated from original Hindi)
In a report filed on CNN-IBN, Arunima provided details about ‘RSS members behind Hyderabad, Ajmer blasts’ (Posted on May 14, 2010 at 21:42). The Report:
New Delhi: Two members of the Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh (RSS) – Devender Gupta and Chandrashekhar Barod – have emerged as the prime suspects in the Hyderabad’s Mecca Masjid and Ajmer blasts. As links between the two blasts become clearer the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) is increasingly looking at involvement of Hindu terror groups…
“There is a link between the Ajmer Sharif blast and the Mecca Masjid Hyderabad blast,” CBI Director Ashwini Kumar says.
“Both blasts took place on a Friday right after the namaz (prayers). Both used low intensity explosives, kept in tin boxes with iron pipes folded around them. Cellphones were used to trigger both explosions; using SIM cards bought with the same fake identity and Telugu newspapers were used in both cases to wrap the bombs.
The Rajasthan Home Minister, Shanti Dhariwal, confirmed the links to The Hindu newspaper saying, “Colonel Purohit, arrested for Malegaon blast, has confessed that Sunil Joshi had organised the Dargah operation with the help of Gupta.”
II
As told earlier the death of Sunil Joshi did evoke an immediate reaction from the Hindutva activists but with the passage of time and their leaders lack of initiative in the case, the news itself was largely forgotten. The Malegaon bomb blast and the subsequent investigation of the case undertaken by the Maharashtra ATS under the leadership of Hemant Karkare suddenly changed the situation. It is now history how this most significant counter-terrorism investigation since the assassination of Mahatma Gandhi exposed the bitter truth that a Hindutva terrorist group was responsible for a series of unsolved bombings so far blamed on Islamists: the February 2007, firebombing of the Samjhauta Express; the attack on the Mecca Masjid in Hyderabad that May; and the October 2007, attack on the shrine of Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti in Ajmer.
Many facts linking Sunil Joshi, a hardcore RSS pracharak, and his group of people to the earlier bomb blasts in the country also came to the fore. It was revealed that the motorcycle used in the Malegaon bomb blast – which earlier belonged to ‘Sadhvi’ Pragya had been loaned to Sunil Joshi. After his death, the vehicle had been passed on to still-missing bombing suspect Ramnarayan Kalsangram, who is alleged to be hiding out with Hindutva supporters in Gujarat.
Col Purohit, a key accused in the bomb blasts case also told the investigators that it was Sunil Joshi only who had conceived and executed the bomb blast in Samjhauta express.
Skeletons started tumbling out of the closet and people discovered that this RSS Pracharak was one of the key links in many terrorist attacks inside the country which were earlier blamed on ‘Jihadi’ terrorists. In fact, Indore where this Pracharak lived emerged as a key centre of many of these terrorist attacks. One could see that either its Malegaon blast, Mecca Masjid or Ajmer terror strike, the accused are being arrested from Indore only. The planning was done here. Even investigation trail in Samjhauta Express case had reached Indore but the Haryana police returned empty handed and said that police of M.P. has proved to be non-cooperative.

It would be foolish to think that MP police was not aware about Sunil Joshi’s shadowy organisation that was based in Indore. It must also have been aware of Samir Kulkarni’s Abhinav Bharat that was functioning from MP. But it appears that bowing to their political bosses, the state police didn’t act then even though local Hindi papers printed tonnes of material about them.
It was during Mr Digvijay Singh’s second tenure as Chief Minister of M.P. that Sunil Joshi and his close associates had planted bombs at Bhopal’s major Islamic gathering of tablighi jamaat that attracts 1 million Muslims but due to the surveillance of the state police then, the bombs could be detected in time and a major tragedy could be averted. Police under BJP rule had rather decided to turn a blind eye towards the activities of these rightwing militant/terrorist groups. It is only when CBI and central investigative agencies reached Indore that the activity began.
A report ‘Dead Man’s Tale Holds Key To Hindutva Terror Secrets’ which appeared in a leading national daily (The Hindu, Nov 20, 2008, Praveen Swami) provided significant inputs to the Sunil Joshi ‘saga’.
“…Maharashtra Police officials say the testimony of a witness — whose identity has been withheld for his protection —links Joshi to the Samjhauta Express attack.
Lt. Col. Purohit, the witness claimed, made the claim after a December 29, 2007, phone call, when he was informed of Joshi’s death. “After the phone call,” a senior Maharashtra Police official told TheHindu, “our witness says Lieutenant-Colonel Purohit credited Joshi with having executed the Samjhauta Express attack, and hailed him as a martyr.”
Maharashtra Police sources said that, according to the witness, Gujarat-based Hindu-nationalist leader Jatin Chatterjee made the call. Mr. Chatterjee — widely known in southern Gujarat by his clerical alias, Swami Asimanand — runs the controversial Vanvasi Kalyan Ashram, which operates a Hindu-proselytisation programme targeting adivasis in southern Gujarat.
…Forensic experts note, though, that there is one significant structural similarity between the Samjhauta Express bomb, and those used in the Mecca Masjid and Ajmer Sharif attacks: a length of grooved metal piping, of the kind used in tube-wells, as a case for the explosives.
Police have also known, for long, that the Mecca Masjid and Ajmer Sharif attacks were linked. The SIM cards of the mobile phones used to activate the bombs used in both attacks were among a set of seven purchased by the perpetrators from West Bengal and Jharkhand in April 2007. In both the Mecca Masjid and Ajmer terror strikes, the bomb-maker who fabricated the explosive devices had the phone’s speaker connected to a detonator.
III.
One could say that just when the involvement of Sunil Joshi in being a key operator of the Hindutva terror network came to the fore his other criminal activities also reached headlines. His role in the murder of Pyar Singh Nenama, a Congress leader also came under fresh scrutiny.
Indore, May 14: (Indian Express) One more person has been picked up in connection with the Ajmer dargah blast by Rajasthan ATS, police said on Friday.
Lokesh Sharma, 36, was picked up and detained by the Rajasthan Anti Terrorist Squad (ATS) while he was along with his family members at Lasudia police station area of Chhindwara district late on Thursday night, they said. Sharma, a resident of Indore, is an accused in the murder of Congress leader Pyar Singh Nenama, who was killed at Manpur locality of the district in August 2003, police said. He was arrested in connection with Nenama murder case and is out on a bail, they added.
Sharma along with former RSS parcharak Sunil Joshi has been charged in Nenama murder case. Joshi, whose name has also figured in Ajmer dargah blast investigation, was shot dead in Madhya Pradesh’s Dewas district in December 2007, police said.
Consequent to the detention of Lokesh Sharma the Rajasthan ATS has also detained an industrialist Rajesh Mishra from Pithampur in M.P. in connection with the Ajmer blast case. Both Mishra and Sharma were once accused in the 2003 Ninama double murder case. Discussing this detention Express reporter emphasises “RSS Pracharak Sunil Joshi, who the investigators believe was the brain behind some of the unsolved case of terror, was also an accused in the double murder case.” (Express, 17 th May 2010, Industrialist detained in MP)
Would it be proper to believe that Parivar people were unaware of their fellow activists controversial actions ? Or, it was part of their overall modus operandi where they have been found to be skillfully combining the parliamentary BJP with the extra-parliamentary Bajrang Dal to further the cause of Hindutva. Any layperson who is familiar with the hierarchial and disciplined nature of the Parivar would find it hard to believe that Sunil Joshi acted on his own.
To be very frank Ajmer bomb blasts and the deeper involvement of RSS Pracharaks in it just reiterates what has been whispered in secular circles but the mainstream media had never dared to acknowledge. It is not for nothing that a deeper and all round investigation into all such terror related cases has been a long running demand of secular forces/individuals which can clarify whether RSS itself is involved in the Hindutva terrorist actions or it has deputed someone to organise it under its noble notion of ‘division of labour’ or there is another dimension to the whole phenomenon.
Mohan Bhagwat, the ‘young’ Supremo of RSS has to do a lot of explaining about the sudden spurt in his Pracharaks going wayward (as he would like us to believe). But the list is a bit long. Perhaps he should just browse through few of the bomb blasts in the country which were earlier blamed on ‘Islamic fanatics’ and later discovered to be handiwork of people/formations floated by the RSS or one of its affiliated organistions or people fired with its ideology. Ajmer, Mecca Mosque, Malegaon, Kanpur, Tenkasi, Nanded I and II and the list continues.
Or there is ‘method in the madness’ ?

US' Double standard?

Zbigniew Brazezinski, former US National Security Advisor said in 1980s in context of Soviet invasion of Afghainstan that-"The US knows Afghanis have deep belief in God (Allah) and that they are confident Mujahideen (Soldiers of God) will succeed against Soviets because the land of Afghanistan belongs to Afghanis and they will get it back one day from Soviets because the fight of Mujhadeens will prevail and they will get back their homes and Mosques and because the cause of Mujahiddens is just and God (Allah) is on your side".

I wonder what would Americans say today of their occupation of Afghanistan????

Is there a spy wing in Aligarh Muslim University?

By Nakshab Khan

New Delhi/Aligarh, May 3 (IANS) It's an open secret in the Aligarh Muslim University that an 'intelligence wing' of the varsity snoops on students and teachers. The administration flatly denies the allegation though it admits that a "watchdog keeps an eye on outsiders and anti-social elements".

The purported 'local intelligence unit' (LIU) came into news with two recent unsavoury incidents on the campus.

This unit was allegedly behind the expose on Srinivas Ramachandra, a gay teacher caught on camera in a compromising position with a rickshaw puller in his campus residence. Ramachandra was suspended, then reinstated and later found dead in his house outside the campus.

One of the three people who posed as a journalist and installed cameras in Ramachandra's house allegedly belonged to this so-called intelligence unit.

"I don't understand the logic behind maintaining such an intelligence agency in an educational institute. No institution except the government has the right to spy on others," Traiqul Islam, a reader in the department of philosophy, told IANS.

He also said the AMU is run in a disorganised manner where the higher authorities don't trust other members.

Union Human Resource Development Minister Kapil Sibal told IANS: "The vice chancellor is authorised to form any committee or agency to maintain law and order in the university. If there is a misuse of that agency then he will be responsible for any mishap."

A teacher in the department of wildlife sciences said: "There indeed exists such an intelligence unit where students as well as others are employed to snoop on students and teachers.

"Different proctorial regimes have extended many doles and favours to those spying for the authorities," said the teacher, requesting anonymity.

The other case of an M.Phil student, recently suspended for allegedly sending a threat letter to Vice Chancellor P.K. Abdul Aziz, also sparked allegations of the unit's involvement.

The student, Afaq Ahmad, alleged that intelligence unit members and officials of his hostel forged his signature on the letter sent to the vice chancellor.

The AMU is spread over a 25-sq km campus and has nearly 30,000 students from across the country on its rolls. The AMU administration has all along denied the existence of such an intelligence unit and said an agency or a watchdog keeps an eye on outsiders and anti-social elements.

AMU proctor Zubair Khan told IANS: "We have a watchdog kind of agency whose main work is to keep an eye on outsiders and anti-social elements who seek to create disturbances in the campus."

He flatly denied that students were employed for spying purposes.

But in reply to a Right to Information (RTI) query, a copy of which is in the possession of IANS, the university administration has admitted the existence of LIU, which aims to collect information and helps take preventive measures in maintaining law and order on the campus.

Mohammed Chaman, a varsity employee, had in November last year filed the RTI.

The RTI also states that "the UGC (University Grant Commission) and the human resource development (HRD) ministry have not been informed by the proctor's office about the existence of the LIU".

Adil Hossain, a first year masters student, said: "The name of a spy agency itself creates a feeling of insecurity. And the existence of a spy unit in an educational institution creates a fear psychosis in the minds of students. Students are being implicated and suspended on the basis of false reports filed by LIU."

AMU, gay activists lock horns over professor's suspension

Nakshab Khan
Aligarh,Feb 21: he suspension of Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) professor Shrinivas Ramachandra Siras over his alleged involvement in a gay sex scandal has pitted the AMU administration and gay rights activists against each other - with the former accusing him of violating "cultural" norms and the latter of trampling their rights.



Professor Siras was allegedly filmed having consensual gay sex with a local rickshaw puller. When the matter was brought to the notice of the college authorities he was suspended Feb 9.

However, Siras has contested the charges by saying that whatever he was doing in his home was his personal matter and he had committed no academic crime.

Three people posing as journalists barged into his campus home Feb 8 and installed secret cameras to catch him having consensual gay sex with a rickshaw puller. They then sent the video clipping to the university administration.

Gay rights activists have openly come out in support of Siras.

"Those who barged into his house, invaded his privacy and installed cameras in his house should be immediately booked under the relevant legal sections. However, it is ridiculous to see institutions of such repute like AMU take irresponsible action by firing the professor for a crime that isn't a crime by law, and without conducting any inquiry," gay rights activist Mohnish Malhotra told IANS.

Siras was serving as chairman of the Modern Indian Languages department at AMU and was set to retire in September.

Meanwhile, the moral brigade in AMU has swung into action demanding the termination of the professor's services. A section of students has approved the action taken by the university authorities to suspend the "guilty" professor.

"We are going to launch a signature campaign in the university, to be submitted with a letter to the ministry of human resource development, to stop the 'cultural assassination' in the Aligarh Muslim University. We will demand termination of service of the professor," said Jasim Mohammed, who is pursuing a Phd in Indian Languages and Culture, from AMU.

He said that a university like AMU with its unique culture "cannot tolerate such unnatural activity in its premises".

The AMU Public Relations Officer, Rahat Abrar, said: "Such an act (homosexuality) is not appropriate for a teacher, so we took action against him. The varsity will soon produce a chargesheet against him."

Siras has decided to challenge his suspension in court.

"Yes, I am going to challenge the suspension order in court as I have done no wrong against the larger interest of the university or any individual," Siras told IANS over phone from Aligarh.

"If the professor goes to court to challenge his suspension, then the university will definitely contest him in court," the AMU PRO said.

Since Siras hasn't so far got the chargesheet against him, he said he is consulting his lawyer to lodge a police complaint against those who secretly entered his house and filmed him having consensual gay sex with the rickshaw puller.

Most of the AMU teachers IANS spoke to have termed the entire episode as unfortunate and condemnable. They said that the most important issue of breach of privacy has been buried under the carpet and the not so significant matter of homosexuality has been blown out of proportion.

No plots yet for many displaced by Games, Metro

Nakshab Khan

New Delhi, They were promised land in resettlement colonies before they were displaced from their slum clusters in various parts of the Indian capital in 2004 to make way for the 2010 Commonwealth Games and Metro rail projects.

But it has been six long years and a decent roof over their heads that they could call home still evades hundreds of families. Many of them are living in makeshift shelters in the resettlement colonies, with little access to sanitation and healthcare.

According to data compiled by an NGO Hazard Centre, at least 35,000 families were displaced from Yumuna Pushta, Banuwal Nagar in Saraswati Vihar, Pragati Market, J Block in Ashok Vihar and Kela Godam in Shalimar Bagh.

Currently, 16,500 families are residing in the Bawana Resettlement Colony in outer Delhi launched six years ago, reveals the data by the NGO.

"Of the 16,500 families, at least 3,000 families haven't got the land and are being forced to live under plastic sheet-covered houses in inhuman conditions in the Bawana colony," Duno Roy, director of Hazards Centre that takes up issues related to factory workers, told IANS.

"At least 2,500 plots are still lying vacant with the DDA in the Bawana resettlement colony but the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) is stonewalling the land allotment procedure," Roy alleges.

Many families living in the hutments allege the area has become a breeding ground for serious diseases due to poor sanitation facilities, with no access to clean drinking water and healthcare.

"In the last five years, some 150 slum clusters were demolished in Delhi, housing approximately 100,000 families," says Raghuraj Singh of Sajha Manch, an NGO working for displaced people.

At the spots from where the families were displaced, the government proposed hotels, commercial, residential spaces and parks - mostly connected to the Commonwealth Games.

In Banuwal Nagar and Ashok Nagar, a four-star hotel and a park were proposed while a residential complex was to be built in Mandawali in east Delhi.

Urmila, who was displaced in 2006 from Savan Park in Ashok Vihar, says the DDA has told her there is no land left that may be given to her.

"DDA had given us the land slip in 2006 before demolishing our slum, but now instead of providing us the plot, they are giving excuses," says Urmila who is now living in the resettlement colony.

Taj Mohammed, who was displaced from Kela Godam in Shalimar Bagh in 2005, told IANS: "I was issued a demand letter by the DDA for land allotment in July 2005 after submitting a demand draft of Rs.5,000, but still I am nowhere near getting the promised land in Bawana."

Of the 3,000 homeless families in Bawana, 750 have got "demand letters" from the DDA - promising the plots - but are yet to get the land.

Neemo Dhar, a DDA spokesperson, told IANS the agency has nothing to do with the 750 demand letters issued to those evicted and it is the duty of the Delhi State Industrial And Infrastructure Development Corporation and the Delhi government to give them land.

But Roy argues that Bawana resettlement was the responsibility of the DDA and both the Delhi government and the DDA were passing the buck at the cost of families in distress.

"In a meeting with Lt Governor Tejendra Khanna Oct 1 last year, it was decided that the DDA engineer would discuss the possibility of a community centre and a school in Bawana with the chief engineer of the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD), but there is no progress on that front," alleges Roy.

Mohammed Usama, a member of the Hazards Centre, says: "Residents of Bawana take out protest marches in front of DDA's office in Pitampura every now and then - only to be told that their problem will be solved soon."