Date:05/11/2008 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2008/11/05/stories/2008110555191004.htm

Opinion - Letters to the Editor

Hindutva terror

I was anguished to read that activists of the sangh parivar, including Sadhvi Pragnya Thakur, have been arrested for their involvement in the Malegaon blasts. I wonder how many more skeletons are waiting to tumble out of its cupboard. The justification of such acts by the BJP and the Shiv Sena is no surprise. With elections approaching, we can expect many more such statements. What is worrying is that the Centre remains a silent spectator.

Swamy Naresh,

Hyderabad

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The arrest of Sadhvi Pragnya in connection with the Malegaon blasts and the mounting evidence supporting her complicity are indeed disturbing. It is perhaps the state’s failure to put down jihadi violence with an iron hand that has led to the latest development, in which an Army officer is allegedly involved. The media should not use the revelation to justify jihadi terror. Through selective reporting, they have already helped the BJP polarise voters in Gujarat. Let them not repeat this on an all-India scale.

C.V. Venkateswaran,

Coimbatore

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The polemical and parochial assertion of Hindutva organisations, categorising instigators of terrorism as breeding and emanating from a particular community, has come full circle.

Though it is premature to confirm the sangh parivar’s links with the Malegaon bomb blasts, it certainly cannot escape the responsibility of indulging in hate campaigns against the minorities.

Shubha Gupta,

Jaipur

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No one with a sense of patriotism and humanity will condone the Malegaon blasts or the action of Sadhvi Pragnya Thakur, an accused in the case. But just as the media analyse the causes of jihadi terrorism, the causes of the so-called Hindutva terrorism also need analysis.

The government has done almost nothing to combat terrorism. This, in turn, has led to fanatical calls from leaders like Bal Thackeray for Hindu suicide bomb squads. The day is not far when some sections within every community and region will start manufacturing their own bombs unless terrorism is met with zero tolerance.

A. Jawahar,

Coimbatore