writes M.Kaiser
Recently, Home Minister of India Sushil Kumar Shinde made a sensational statement about terrorism. But this time words like Pakistan, Islamic, Muslims or L-e-T were not involved rather a known but bit controversial term (in India) i.e Saffron terror(also Hindu terror) was used by Shinde. Saffron terror is a phrase used to describe acts of Right-wing terrorism in India, allegedly inspired by Hindu nationalism. The term was officially used for first time on August 25, 2010 by then Home Minister, P. Chidambaram. According to Home Ministry such terror groups are associated with the Malegaon, Mecca Masjid and Samjhauta express blasts. Shinde’s remarks drew an angry reaction from the BJP, which demanded an unconditional apology, but Congress leaders defended Shinde and said right-wing terrorism was a reality in the country. External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid Congress general secretary Digvijay Singh, the former Union Minister, Mani Shankar Aiyar, and Union Minister Rajeev Shukla backed Home Minister S.K Shinde’s statement on “Hindu terrorism” saying it was based “entirely on facts” made available by investigative agencies. Surprisingly, Shinde earned the dubious distinction of being the only Indian home minister to be publicly thanked by Lashkar-e-Taiba chief Hafiz Saeed. Apart from commendation and condemnation for the Home Minster`s statement, there are some vital interpretations of it. For example Shinde’s statement also implies that several big states ruled by the BJP are either running training camps for terrorists, or providing them protection. Since the Home Minster has made it clear that his assertions were not ideological but based on solid investigations. Therefore how a secular and democratic country India allow parties like BJP and RSS to function who is allegedly training terrorists? It is important to mention here that Students Islamic movement of India (SIMI), also declared as a terrorist group by government was banned by Govt. of India in 2001. Now when another group of terrorists have been identified by the government it is imperative for India to ban it and pass the secular test.