lok-sabha-elections

Updated: May 03, 2019 07:38 IST

On Saturday, the communication and outreach wing of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), the Vishwa Samvad Kendra (VSK), will release a documentary based on the theme of “Hindu Terror”. It will be the first in a series of four documentaries centred on the over decade old Malegaon and Mecca Masjid blast cases to be released on the internet, such as YouTube.

The RSS has been running a campaign to counter the charge of “Hindu terror” and is relying on literature and films to argue against the charges levelled against the organisation and key accused in the Malegaon and Mecca Majid blasts such as Pragya Thakur and Aseemanand. Aseemanand had been acquitted in the Ajmer Dargah, Mecca Masjid and the Samjhauta Express terrorist bombings. Thakur is on bail on health grounds and is contesting Lok Sabha elections from Bhopal as BJP’s candidate after the Sangh pitched for her candidature. The NIA did not challenge the acquittal and charges were framed against Thakur on a court’s instructions. The RSS feels fielding Thakur will be a “fitting reply” to the Congress candidate Digvijaya Singh, who they accuse of having coined the term “saffron terror”.

The first documentary, Bhagva Atank Brahmajal (saffron terror illusion), according to the producer Raj Chawla, is based on case diaries. “Being a journalist, I followed these cases and wanted to bring out the reasons based on which the courts gave their decisions. These documentaries explore how evidence was produced and in some cases even cooked,” Chawla said, adding he is not associated with the RSS nor has his work been financed by it.

“The term Hindu terror was coined by the Congress and the hidden facts about the cases that were filed should be brought out. We welcome the initiative to present the hidden side of these cases,” said the head of RSS’s Delhi media unit, Rajiv Tuli.

“Terror has no religion, and any act of terror has to be dealt with decisively. At no point of time has the Congress attributed terror to any religion or caste or community and any allegation to this end are baseless,” said Congress leader Manish Tewari.