Saffron Terror Myth: Concocted Theory Falls Flat

Congress Party concealed the realities of Islamic terrorist attacks by conceiving the myth of the “saffron terror”

Shwetank Bhushan





In Mecca Masjid Bombing while Harkat-ul-Jihad-al-Islami and LeT were involved, Swami Aseemanand was implicated

Bharatiya Janta Party attacked the Congress following the acquittal of Swami Aseemanand and four others in the 2007 Mecca Masjid blast, affirming that the Congress had defamed Hindus by using the term “saffron terror” and demanded an apology from Rahul Gandhi. However, lying to their teeth, Congress has asserted that there is nothing called as ‘saffron terror" and the party is of the firm belief that terror cannot be linked to any religion or community. Congress has also asserted that its leader Rahul Gandhi or the party had never used the phrase.

It is a historical fact that under the Nehru-Gandhi dynasty led- United Progressive Alliance (UPA) Government, communal wedge was driven in the social harmony of this country, when they coined the term- ‘Saffron Terror’. It was used to vilify the whole Hindu population.

It was a systematic and well-organised plot to demonise Hindus to appease Muslims in its ugliest form of political means. We must expose these sinister conspiracies by examining all these events and deconstructing their designs.

Malegaon Blasts (2006)

A series of bomb blasts took place in Malegaon, a town in the Nashik district of Maharashtra. Most of the blast victims were Muslim pilgrims.

In this incident, police investigations have determined that the explosives contained in these bombings were “a cocktail of RDX, Ammonium Nitrate and fuel oil, the same mixture used in July 2006 Mumbai train bombings (a terror incident) for which several Islamist groups were suspects.” Since the investigation was still under way, Nasik Superintendent of Police, Rajvardhan declined to give details, saying: “We can’t say anything till we get reports from all the agencies”, but soon released the sketches of two suspects.

“The bigger threat may be the growth of radicalised Hindu groups, which create religious tensions and political confrontations with the Muslim community” — Rahul Gandhi to US Ambassador Timothy Roemar, via WikiLeaks

On October 30, The Times of India reported that in Malegaon blast case, Noor-Ul-Hooda, an activist of the Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI) was arrested first. On October 13, the Director General of Police (Mumbai) Mr. Pasricha said that they were very close to cracking the case and claimed to have identified the perpetrators. On November 6, The Times of India reported from Anti Terrorist Squad (ATS) Maharashtra said that the prime conspirator Shabbir Batterywala is an operative of Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) and the co-conspirator is Raees Ahmad of SIMI.

On September 12, 2006, then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said, “It will be inappropriate for us to rule out anything or rule in anything. I think there should be a fair investigation which inspires confidence and brings out the truth and nothing but the truth without any pre-conceived notion. That has to be the objective”.

Alas! The Maharashtra ATS had prima facie ruled out the involvement of Hindu Nationalist groups .

Samjhauta Express Blasts (2007)

The twin blasts shook two coaches of the Samjhauta Express around midnight in which sixty-eight people were killed in the ensuing fire and dozens were injured. It has been allegedly linked to Abhinav Bharat, a Hindu group. In November 2008, it was reported that the Maharashtra ATS suspected the attacks were linked to Prasad Shrikant Purohit, an Indian army officer and a member of Abhinav Bharat. Purohit himself claimed that he had “infiltrated” the Abhinav Bharat. During an army"s Court of Inquiry, 59 witnesses stated to the court along with Officers who testified that Purohit was doing his job of gathering intelligence inputs by infiltrating extremist organisations. Col. Purohit was given a clean chit by the Army"s Court of Inquiry. Muslim Perpetrators of Malegaon Blast were given a free pass, while an innocent Sadhavi and an Army officer were booked Now comes the interesting part. Except for the Indian investigators, all others pointed fingers at the LeT to be responsible. “Qasmani Arif, the chief coordinator of LeT, has worked with LeT to facilitate terrorist attacks including, the bombing of February 2007 in the Samjhauta Express (India).” This is what resolution (No. 1267) of the Committee on Sanctions of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) dated June 6, 2009 declares. Adding that Qasmani was funded by Dawood Ibrahim and he did fund-raising for LeT and Al-Qaida, the UNSC said: “In exchange for their support, Al-Qaida provided support staff for the bombing in the Samjhauta Express in Panipat.” Samjhauta Express Blast— What the UN says? Arif Qasmani has worked with LeT to facilitate terrorist attacks, to include the July 2006 train bombing in Mumbai, India, and the February 2007 Samjota Express bombing in Panipat, India. Qasmani utilized money that he received from Dawood Ibrahim, an Indian crime figure and terrorist supporter, to facilitate the July 2006 train bombing in Mumbai, India… Between 2004 and 2005, Qasmani provided al Qaida with supplies and weapons and facilitated the movement of al Qaida leaders in and out of Afghanistan. In return for Qasmani’s support, al Qaida provided Qasmani with operatives to support the July 2006 train bombing in Mumbai, India, and the February 2007 Samjota Express bombing in Panipat, India. Source: ‘Security Council Al-Qaida and Taliban Sanctions Committee Adds Names of Three Individuals to Consolidated List’, United Nations Security Council, June 29, 2009 Not just UN or US Treasury or just the admission of Pakistan’s interior minister, in fact, independent investigation in the US revealed more. Some ten months later, Sebastian Rotella, a US journalist, wrote in his investigative report titled, “US agencies were forewarned about suspect in 2008 Mumbai bombings” that Faiza Outalha, the third wife of David Coleman Headley had confessed [in 2008, that was made public in 2010] that Headley was involved in Samjhauta blast. “There is the recently uncovered phenomenon of saffron terrorism that has been implicated in many bomb blasts of the past” — P Chidambaram at Conference of State police chiefs and Inspector-Generals of Police, August 25, 2010 Why did NIA not name Arif Qasmani as suspect/accused in the Samjhauta blast? Why did it not seek the extradition of Arif Qasmani from Pakistan? What effort did the NIA make to secure the evidence on the basis of which the UNSC had declared Arif Qasmani as the accused in the Samjhauta blast? What effort did it make to secure the evidence on the basis of which the US Treasury Department had declared Arif Qasmani as the perpetrator? Did the NIA write to the Ministry of External Affairs or the Interpol directly for assistance from the US and the UN in the above? Whether it asked the MEA to seek the co-operation of the group established between India and Pakistan for sharing of the information? The UPA government did nothing. When leads were thus pointing to Pakistan and SIMI as partners in Samjhauta blast, the Maharashtra ATS shockingly told the Special Court through the public prosecutor that Col Purohit, was allegedly involved in the Malegaon blast in which RDX was used. Later, the ATS counsel retracted from the statement he had made earlier involving Col Purohit in the Samjhauta blast. But the damage was already done. Pakistan immediately raised the issue of Col. Purohit’s involvement in Samjhauta Blasts. Finally the Maharastra ATS officially denied that Col Purohit had supplied RDX for Samjhauta. This was how the Samjhauta focus—later the blame—shifted from LeT and SIMI to Col Purohit and via Purohit on to the Hindus. The Maharashtra ATS attempt to link Malegaon 2008 to Samjhauta which shifted the focus away from LeT on to Purohit needs to be probed, particularly given Dawood Ibrahim’s deep influence in Maharastra Police. Mecca Masjid Bombing (2007) In the Mecca Masjid bombing in Hyderabad, 14 people were reported dead, in which the IED contained Cyclotol, a 60:40 mixture of RDX and TNT. It is important to note as they are specially used by the Islamic Terror outfits. The SIT of Hyderabad Police arrested ‘South India commander’ of the LeT, identified as Shaik Abdul Khaja alias Amjad, from Afzalgunj area of the city. Police said that the arrested was linked to Mohammed Abdul Shahid Bilal, a key suspect in the bombing.

“Reports have come during investigation that BJP and RSS conduct terror training camps to spread terrorism... This is saffron terrorism” — Sushil Kumar Shinde, then Minister of Home Affairs while addressing the Media on January 20, 2013