RSS leader linked to ISI?

The Malegaon blast investigation is throwing up interesting stuff with each passing day. The latest doing the round is the alleged plot to kill two senior RSS leaders.

According to some media reports, which are attributed to the Maharashtra ATS, Lt Col Srikant Purohit revealed the plot to kill RSS General Secretary Mohan Rao Bhagwat and its National Executive Member Indresh Kumar during interrogations. Media reports suggest various motives behind the plot to kill these leaders.

According to the accused (Sadhvi Pragya Thakur & Lt Col Srikant Purohit among others) arrested by the ATS, they wanted to kill Indresh Kumar because of his links with Pakistan’s ISI. Indresh has rejected the charge.

The RSS, meanwhile, has issued a statement on the latest controversy. It has rejected allegations leveled against Indresh Kumar. It said that instead of probing the matter in detail, the ATS leaked the information.

As the investigations in the blast case gets more curious, Canary Trap will keep you updated on every aspect of the probe.

Here is the text of the statement released by the RSS on the latest controversey:

RSS Sahsarkaryawah (Joint General Secretary) Shri Madan Dasji’s statement on Malegaon controversy generated by the ATS
22-11-08 AT NEW DELHI

The investigations by the Anti Terrorist Squad of the Maharashtra Police into the bomb blast at Malegaon in Maharashtra are mired in controversy right from day one. In view of the claims by the investigating agency that certain Hindu groups were involved in the blasts it was expected that the case would be handled in a professional and thorough manner. However we are pained to note that more than month-long investigations have left a very bad taste inviting criticism from everyone including several security experts.

Ever since this turn of events took place in the Malegaon case there has been an unrelenting cacophony about the rise of so-called ‘Hindu Terror’ and the involvement of the RSS and other Hindu organizations in terrorist activities not only at Malegaon but also at several other places. It is an article of faith for the RSS that it will never sponsor or support any form of violence. Being a law abiding organization committed to peace and social harmony we took a principled stand that the investigations into the case must be conducted thoroughly and professionally and truth brought out.

What we objected to and continue to do so is the campaign that there exists something called Hindu Terror vis-à-vis Jehadi terror. The purpose of this campaign is to support, if not justify, the actions of the Jehadi terrorists and hide the failure of the government in combating terrorism. We would like to caution the Government, political parties and media that political expediency on terror would prove costly for the larger interests of national security and integrity of the country.

Now the ATS has brought in a new dimension of the conspiracy by the Malegaon accused to eliminate the senior Sangh leaders Sri Mohanrao Bhagwat, General secretary and Sri Indresh Kumar, Member, National Executive. We would have liked the ATS to further probe this matter. In stead it chose to leak the matter in bits and pieces to sections of media. The governments are obliged to ensure protection of all citizens. Hence this kind of information, if it was available with the government, should have called for immediate action. There was no such initiative from the government side. It gives credence to the suspicion that this information is a part of a design to divert nation’s attention from the massive failure of the agencies in the Malegaon probe.

Deliberate and partial leakage of Narco reports of the suspects making wild and baseless insinuations like the senior RSS leader Sri Indresh Kumar’s involvement with the ISI are also a part of this larger design. We would like to categorically rubbish these claims of the suspects. Sri Indresh Kumar is a senior and dedicated Pracharak of the RSS. He had held various important positions in the RSS and is at present undertaking several activities under the guidance of the RSS leadership. All allegations against him are totally baseless and deserve nothing but contempt.

The Sangh leaders, including the Chief and the General Secretary, are constantly on the move and are easily accessible. Many people come to meet them and share their views on various issues. Merely because someone had come and said something doesn’t really mean anything.

Evidently all this propaganda smacks of a sinister design to drag the RSS into some baseless controversy and divert public attention from the misdeeds of the government and the investigating agencies in the name of Malegaon blast case.

We urge that the government and media put an end to this diversionary tactics and focus on the terror which has assumed serious proportions.

I urge the countrymen to understand that this campaign is politically motivated and intended to damage the reputation of the Hindu organizations, Hindu saints and Hindu civilization. I call upon the countrymen to defeat the designs of those who are undermining the national interests for narrow political gains.