KARACHI: The Indian Home Minister, Sushilkumar Shinde, has recently stated: “Reports have come during investigations that the BJP and the RSS conduct terror training camps in India to spread terrorism ... Bombs were planted in the Samjhauta Express, Mecca Masjid and also a blast was carried out in Malegaon. We will have to think about it seriously and will have to remain alert. This is saffron terrorism that I have talked about.”
This is a rare admission coming from the Indian government. Though there has been an immediate denial from the BJP, this admission explains some of the problems that India and Pakistan have in their dealings with terrorism as this is clearly not a Pakistani problem only. Still, why did the Indian prime minister, in the same meeting, allege repeatedly that Pakistan was exporting terrorism? Does this imply that Hindu nationalist terrorism is the answer to the Muslim one that comes from Pakistan?
As India seems to be on the road to recognising some of the realties in its backyard, why does it not acknowledge some more home truths as well? While there is no denial that there is a Pakistani connection in some of the terrorist attacks in India, such as the 26/11 attacks, there should also be no doubt that it is equally true that Indian Muslims themselves have many reasons to fight the Indian state that has been treating them unfairly for over 60 years and not only in Kashmir. Cases like that of the Babri Mosque attack and the Gujarat riots cannot be ignored. In an increasingly violent world, where the West seems to be waging a war for control of natural resources and political influence, one should not be surprised to find that violence breeds violence.
Ali Ashraf Khan
Published in The Express Tribune, January 22nd, 2013.
