"It is particularly shocking that Mr. Advani, a former Union Home Minister, going on nothing but the hysterical words of an accused, charged the ATS with being politically motivated and unprofessional in its investigation. The parivar has a track record of applauding the ATS whenever it acted against alleged Islamist terrorists. Blinded by its communal agenda, the main opposition party has gone dangerously over the top in the cause of Hindutva." Ugly defence of the indefensible
When someone takes to offence as a form of defence of the unjustifiable, the outcome turns nasty. The Bharatiya Janata Party, which was on the political offensive over the last decade on an anti-Islamist terrorism plank, is clearly shaken by the revelations of the role of extremist Hindutva elements in the Malegaon bomb explosions and some other terrorist attacks. As news broke of the alleged involvement of Sadhvi Pragnya Singh Thakur in the bomb blasts, BJP leaders first tried to distance themselves from her. On October 30, party president Rajnath Singh said he was embarrassed to find that he had been photographed with her. The next day the party's prime-minister-in-waiting, L.K. Advani, took the politically correct stand that the sadhvi should be punished if found guilty. All this changed quickly enough with the Hindutva command centre, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, deciding to back her to the hilt. Mr. Singh went over the top, claiming that those who believed in "cultural nationalism" — a euphemism for the sangh parivar's highly toxic communal politics — could never take to terror and voicing his suspicion of a frame-up. But more significantly, the heavyweight Mr. Advani spelt out a new line, condemning the "barbaric treatment" of a "spiritual person," seeking a judicial probe into her dramatised allegations of torture, and assailing "the manner in which unsubstantiated allegations have been made against serving Army personnel [Lt. Col. Shrikant Purohit]." No one can miss the irony of such statements coming from the top leaders of a party that has tried to position itself as India's foremost adversary of terrorism. Indeed the BJP, which attacked the Jamia Millia Islamia's offer of legal assistance to two Muslim students accused of involvement in bomb blasts, now has no qualms about supporting alleged terrorists of the saffron kind. Every accused is constitutionally entitled to legal assistance but political support to those accused of serious crimes, especially terrorist acts, is an entirely different matter. Clearly, the BJP's stance on Malegaon has nothing to do with the principle that a person must be presumed innocent unless proved guilty. It is a stance of blanket opposition to the law of the land bringing to justice sangh parivar elements accused of terrorist crimes. The double standard aside, the BJP is guilty of seeking to politicise, pressure, and derail the legal investigation of the Malegaon explosions and the conspiracy behind them by Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad. It is particularly shocking that Mr. Advani, a former Union Home Minister, going on nothing but the hysterical words of an accused, charged the ATS with being politically motivated and unprofessional in its investigation. The parivar has a track record of applauding the ATS whenever it acted against alleged Islamist terrorists. Blinded by its communal agenda, the main opposition party has gone dangerously over the top in the cause of Hindutva Manmohan to Advani: why support 'sadhvi' Pragnya?
Special Correspondent
 TOGETHER: A video obtained by the Anti-Terrorism Squad of the Maharashtra police shows 'Sadhvi' Pragnya Singh Thakur (far left) and godman Dayanand Pandey (far right) at a function in Bhopal on April 12, 2008. The event was organised by Sameer Kulkarni, member of the radical Hindu group, Abhinav Bharat, and its president Himani Savarkar (second from left).
NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has taken strong exception to the Bharatiya Janata Party's stand supporting terror suspect 'sadhvi' Pragnya Singh Thakur and on Wednesday he picked up the telephone and spoke to the BJP's prime ministerial candidate, L.K. Advani, to convey his view. Official sources confirmed that National Security Adviser M.K. Narayanan has been asked by the Prime Minister to brief Mr. Advani about the facts of the case. MCOCA slapped on Malegaon blast accused
Special Correspondent
MUMBAI: The Anti-Terrorism Squad has decided to invoke the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crimes Act (MCOCA) against all 10 suspects arrested in the Malegaon blast case. It is a tough Act under which bail is virtually impossible. At a press conference here on Thursday, ATS chief Hemant Karkare said there was no need for each of the accused to have more than one charge sheet as prescribed under the Act. There were other provisions which could be used to apply the MCOCA. Some of the accused have cases registered against them earlier, including Lt. Col Prasad Shrikant Purohit, Rakesh Dhawade and Sameer Kulkarni. However, only Dhawade has been chargesheeted in an earlier case. Mr. Karkare said one more person would be arrested. The ATS was granted a transit remand for Sudhakar Chaturvedi, who will be produced in a Nashik court on Friday. Chaturvedi was arrested by the Matunga police on November 4 for possessing a fake military identity card. He is suspected to have links with the Malegaon blast. The ATS has invoked Sections 3 (1), 3 (2) and 3 (4) of the MCOCA. Section 3 refers to punishment for organised crime. Under the Act, the charge sheet can be filed within 180 days as against the usual period of 90 days. The case will now shift to the special MCOCA court in Mumbai from Nashik. Mr. Karkare said the investigation would be completed within 90 days. He said the ATS was not under pressure to carry out this investigation and it was incorrect to impute motives. The ATS was not looking at the caste, colour or even the organisation of the suspects. The case was proceeding on the basis of evidence, he said. It was not possible to share evidence at every stage as the process of investigation was on. Forensic test results were not yet with the ATS and he could not say whether press reports on various narco analyses on the accused were correct or not. Mr. Karkare said financial links were being probed in connection with the blast. The ATS was working professionally and as per the law, he said in response to questions. Samjhauta blast
On the Samjhauta train blast, he clarified that one witness had given some information which could not be taken as the gospel truth. It was subject to verification. As the ATS was investigating only the Malegaon blast, other agencies would be probing any link with various explosions, he said.
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