[R-G] The Dark Side of Hindu Nationalism?

[Yoshie Furuhashi]

<http://blogs.reuters.com/india/2008/11/03/the-dark-side-of-hindu-nationalism/>
November 3rd, 2008
The dark side of Hindu nationalism?
Posted by: Alistair Scrutton

The slow peeling of the onion around the involvement of Hindu
militants in the Malegaon and Modasa bomb blasts [LINK:
<http://in.reuters.com/article/domesticNews/idINBOM41733120081024>]
last month in the western states of Maharashtra and Gujarat in
September has shown a murky network of religious radicals that may
have both implications for India's politics as well as its
anti-terrorist policies.

For years, bombs in India have mostly been blamed on Islamist
militants [LINK:
<http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/SP137578.htm>]. Even attacks
on mosques were often blamed on Islamists seeking to spark communal
tensions between India's majority Hindus and minority Muslims.

Both national and international press  have focused on the growing
Indian-born Islamist militants who are trying to attack the Indian
state.

A widespread crackdown on suspected Islamist militants following the
bomb attacks this year that killed scores of people in several Indian
cities led Muslim leaders to accuse authorities of conducting a witch
hunt [LINK: <http://www.reuters.com/article/latestCrisis/idUSDEL7421>]
and reinforcing stereotypes about their community

But the recent revelations of possible involvement of Hindu militants
in some bomb blasts show that the Indian state could be soon fighting
a anti-terrorist war on two fronts. Five people were killed in the
Malegaon and Modasa blasts that hit the two Muslim-dominated towns
within minutes of each other on Sept. 29.

In a thoughtful article in the Mail Today [LINK:
<http://mjoshi.blogspot.com/>], Manoj Joshi wrote that a series of
mysterious and unresolved attacks in recent years that, with
hindsight, may have been the work of Hindu militants.

What is also worrying for India are the links of former army officials
in the Malegaon attacks. They have been arrested as part of what
police say is a "larger conspiracy." How deep does this Hindu
militancy go?

The Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) appears to be
uneasy with these revelations, with reports the suspected in the
blasts are linked to the BJP youth wing.

BJP president Rajnath Singh has defended one of the accused in the
Malegaon. blasts, breaking a party line that saw the party condemn
terrorism and allow the law to take its course.

But outspoken comments by Singh are hardly likely to benefit a party
that is fighting crucial state elections this year, seen as a dress
rehearsal for general elections due by May, 2009.

Only a month ago the BJP appeared to be on the offensive, attacking
the ruling Congress government over its failure to stop serial blasts
around Indian cities that have killed scores of people.

Now it appears more on the defensive, uneasy about the possibility
Hindus are involved in terrorism.

One thing appears certain. As elections approach, the question of how
India deals with violence from its Hindu or Muslim militants will come
to the forefront.