[Friends are requested to act in an appropriate
manner. May like to send similar missives.
Sukla]
To
The President of India
New Delhi
Cc:
The Prime Mister of India
New Delhi
The Home Minister of India
New Delhi
Smti Sonia Gandhi
The Chairperson of the UPA
New Delhi
Justice S. Rajendra Babu
The Chairperson
National Human Rights Commission
New Delhi
Sub: Appeal for Conducting Public Enquiry into Affairs
of Bhonsala Military College (allegedly engaged in
terrorist activities) and other Private Military
Schools and Colleges
Madam President,
You must be aware that in the recent days one Pragya
Singh Thakur from Madhya Pradesh, a "Sadhvi"
(Purnachetnagiri), has been arrested by the
Maharashtra police, rather its Anti-Terrorism Squad
(ATS), in connection with a murderous bomb blast
carried out on the September 29 last in the vicinity
of the Noorani Masjid in Malegaon, a small
predominantly Muslim town in Maharashtra near Mumbai.
This is definitely not the first time that in India
Muslims were the obvious targets of terrorist
bombings. But this is the first time, when in such a
case, the "suspects" are not Muslims.
This Ms. Thakur is known to have links with various
affiliates of the RSS and her level of proximity with
the seniormost leaders of the BJP is now being widely
speculated upon.
Be that as it may, in the process of media coverage on
the issue, the name of an academic institution - the
Bhonsala Military College in Nashik – is repeatedly
cropping up.
At least three retired army officers have till now
been detained by the ATS for having been actively
involved, mainly in terms of necessary trainings and
supply of the explosives – RDX. And at least one of
them, retired Army officer Major Prabhakar Kulkarni,
is/was actively engaged with the institute.
As the name itself suggests, this is not an ordinary
college. The "Aims and Objectives", as per its
website, includes: "To encourage students to take up
careers in the Armed Forces of the country." (Ref.:
<http://www.bhonsala.com/new_ourcollege.html>.) In
fact to train students for direct recruitments to the
armed services or admission into the prestigious
National Defence Academy (NDA) is evidently the main
focus of the college in Nashik and its branch in
Godhni near Nagpur.
The possible involvement of three (retired) senior
officers from the armed forces in terrorist activities
is in itself pretty disturbing – more so given the
fact that all the three are reportedly having links
with a major political party. This strongly suggests
politicisation of Indian armed forces, particularly
its higher ranks. This is no doubt a grave danger
signal for Indian democracy, which till now has been
able to eschew the predicaments faced by its two
largest next-door neighbours.
But still more disturbing is the possibility of the
involvement of an institution preparing students years
after years for entry into the armed forces, either
directly or via the NDA, in terrorist activities
propelled by an ideology – the ideology of
establishing a "Hindu Rashtra" in India by dismantling
the secular democratic Indian nation state. That the
institute in the past reportedly hosted programmes for
the Bajrang Dal tends to make the things look even
more sinister. It would be pertinent to note here that
the institute is run by the Central Hindu Military
Education Society founded by (late) Dr.B.S.Moonje, a
co-founder of the RSS, once President of the Hindu
Mahasabha, an ardent fan of the Italian Fascists and a
staunch proponent of "militarisation of India".
In view of the serious implications of what have been
described above and consequent grave threats to Indian
democracy and basic human rights of the Indian people,
you are earnestly requested to direct the government
of India promptly institute a thorough public enquiry
into the affairs and conduct of the said institute and
also all other private military schools and colleges
in the country.
Hope you will readily appreciate the urgency and
kindly oblige.
Thanking you,
Yours sincerely
Sukla Sen
EKTA (Committee for Communal Amity)
Mumbai
Encl: Two
I/II.
Retd Major trained Sadhvi in bomb-making: Prosecutor
30 Oct 2008, 0323 hrs IST, Mateen Hafeez, TNN
NASHIK: Retd Major Ramesh Upadhyay, whose arrest in
connection with the Malegaon blasts exposed links
between Hindu terror activists and ex-servicemen, had
conducted at least three meetings with Sadhvi Pragya
Singh Thakur and her accomplices before the Malegaon
attack that killed six people, a prosecutor told a
Nashik court on Wednesday. All the meetings were
conducted at Bhonsala military school in Nashik.
Upadhaya, who once headed the BJP's Mumbai unit of the
ex-servicemen's cell, and Bhopal printing press
employee Sameer Kulkarni were produced before the
court of P G Patil, who remanded them to police
custody till November 10.
"Upadhyay, who was posted in the artillery department
while working with the Indian military, is suspected
to have guided the arrested accused on how to assemble
a bomb and procure RDX," said public prosecutor Ajay
Misar. He also sought permission to subject the
suspects to polygraph, lie-detector and narco-analysis
tests "to find out the missing links to the larger
conspiracy".
The court granted permission for forensic tests.
Upadhyay, who retired in 1998, had trained the sadhvi
and her two associates in bomb-making. "We have
evidence the accused conducted at least three meetings
at Bhonsala military school in Nashik before the
blast. The telephonic conversation also show links
among all the accused," said Misar. The Bhonsala
academy, located on College Road in Nashik, imparts
basic military training to aspiring soldiers. Courses
include horseback riding, swimming, weapon firing.
It has several CBSE board schools on its premises.
Upadhyay, a resident of Pune, was picked up by
Mumbai's Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) on Saturday. The
ATS has so far arrested five people in connection with
a bomb blast in the textile town on September 29.
Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur and her two associates,
Shamlal Sahu and Shivnarayan Singh, were arrested on
October 23. All have been arrested for murder, attempt
to murder, conspiracy for a terror act, unlawful
assembly, making bomb and various sections of the
Unlawful Activities Prevention Act and Explosives Act.
The bike used in the bomb blast was registered in
Sadhvi's name. Thakur, who was an active member of
Akhil Bharatya Vidyarthi Parishad a decade ago, was
also the national executive secretary of Durga Vahini,
Vishwa Hindu Parishad's women's wing.
Upadhyay admitted in the court he had met the Sadhvi
once and had shared a dias with her thrice. Upadhya,
who started a post-retirement transport business, also
told the court that there were injuries on his body,
however, he didn't attribute it to any kind of police
"torture".
"I have served the country and can never commit such a
heinous crime. I am a heart patient and a daily
medical check up is a must for me. I am ready for a
narco test and will cooperate with the investigators
but the only thing I want is that the police should
behave with me humanely," Upadhyay told the court. He
rejected the offer of a lawyer, saying that he would
defend himself in the court.
Sameer Kulkarni, head of Abhinav Bharat, a "social
outfit", kept mum through Wednesday's proceedings.
Kulkarni, also known as Chanakya among friends, had
shifted from Maharashtra to Bhopal a few years ago.
Ironically, he is the same person who had conducted an
anti-terrorism exhibition at Gandhi Bhavan in Bhopal a
few months ago. He is accused of transporting the
explosives and participating in the meetings.
II.
We didn't train Malegaon accused: Military School
By: Agencies Date: 2008-10-29
Don't know her: The Bhonsala School's Nagpur branch
director admitted yesterday that one ex-serviceman
under probe for his association with main Malegaon
blast accused Pragya Singh Thakur (in veil) was
associated with the school
The Bhonsala Military School has categorically denied
imparting terrorist training to the September 29
Malegaon bomb blast accused or anyone else in the
past.
"We heard the names of the Malegaon bomb accused,
including Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur, for the first
time when reports about their arrest appeared in the
print and electronic media in the past few days," the
school's Nagpur branch director Satish Salpekar said
yesterday.
The Bhonsala Military School in Nashik and its branch
in Godhni near Nagpur prepares students for entrance
exams to the National Defence Academy (NDA).
Salpekar, however, admitted that the school had
allowed the Bajrang Dal to use its premises and
apparatus for its "personality development camp" in
2001, free of cost.
Links to suspects
He also confirmed media reports that retired Army
officer Major Prabhakar Kulkarni, presently under the
scanner of the Maharashtra police's Anti-Terrorism
Squad (ATS) for imparting training in the use of RDX
to the Malegaon bomb accused, was associated with the
school in Nashik, first as its commandant and then as
secretary of the educational institute that ran it
till a few years ago.
Salpekar clarified that the two other ex-servicemen
reportedly under ATS probe, Major Ramesh Upadhyay and
Major Y D Sahasrabuddhe, were never associated with
the Bhonsala Military School.
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