In 2019 general elections in India, BJP’s decision to field Sadhvi Pragya against senior Congress leader Digvijay Singh has created ripples in news circles. Sadhvi Pragya was accused in Malegaon bomb blast case and eyebrows were raised about the optics of party nominating a “terror accused”.

While some may be confounded by this decision, a brief walk through the history of the last twenty years in Indian politics may help understand the reasons for doing so.

It all began when Congress started creating the bogey of ‘Hindu terror’ as a political strategy soon after Sonia Gandhi taking over as its Party President in 1998. Shortly thereafter, they began to blindly blame RSS for every major law & order incident in order to portray them as extremists.

1984 – Violence against Sikhs

It was a known fact that in the aftermath of Indira Gandhi’s assassination, many Congress leaders led the mobs in violence against Sikhs. Congress leader Sajjan Kumar was convicted and eventually sentenced for life. Another Congress leader Jagdish Tytler was named by CBI for leading the violent mobs. Congress leader Kamal Nath was also accused of leading such mobs. He has now been made the Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh.

Yet in 1999, Manmohan Singh of Congress blamed RSS for those riots and also mentioned that Congress “had no role in it”

2002 – Riots in Gujarat

Narendra Modi as the Chief Minister of the state was blamed for not controlling the riots based on the testimony by one police officer – IPS Sanjiv Bhatt. He testified to have attended a meeting where Modi asked Police to look the other way during riots and “let Hindus vent their anger”

However, the Supreme Court appointed SIT team uncovered the following details –

All bureaucrats and senior police officials (including Director General of Police and Police Commissioner) denied the above and testified that Bhatt was not even present in the said meeting (he was too junior to be invited)

Bhatt had testified his driver taking him to the meeting, but the driver was not even present in Gujarat on those dates. Later the driver was taken to Congress legal cell and pressured to support Bhatt’s testimony

Bhatt’s several other connections with Congress were uncovered. Bhatt had exchanged many emails with a Gujarat Congress leader, he was tutored by Congress legal cell and Bhatt’s wife contested election on Congress ticket

One of the most direct evidence of Bhatt colluding with Congress was an email where he wrote he would “take it up with someone in the party” and get “suitably instructed”

The Supreme Court’s verdict stated that Sanjiv Bhatt had “not come to the Court with clean hands“, was “not acting bona fide, was catering to the interest elsewhere” and had “acted in deliberation and consultation with the leaders of the rival political party”

In other words, IPS Sanjiv Bhatt was supporting a conspiracy by Congress to frame Narendra Modi and BJP

2006/2008 Malegaon blasts and 2007 Samjhauta Express blast

For 2006 Malegaon blast, initially, nine suspects were included in the charge-sheet based on the available evidence. One of the suspects Shabbir owned a battery unit in Malegaon – he was alleged to be a trained operative of LeTand investigators had found traces of RDX in his factory

For Samjhauta Express blast, United States shared intelligence inputs about the proven links of Arif Qasmani, a Pakistani national linked with terrorist organizations. UN Security Council has still listed him as the perpetrator of Samjhauta Express blast.

However, the Government of India changed the course of the investigation to implicate alleged Hindu extremists, one of which was Lt. Col Srikant Purohit, a serving army officer. He was also charged for the 2008 Malegaon Blast. For 2008 Malegaon Blast, another alleged Hindu extremist named Sadhvi Pragya Thakur was charged.

In the Court, as many as 59 witnesses from the Army stated that Purohit was a military intelligence person who was actually doing his job (of gathering intelligence inputs) by infiltrating extremist organizations.

In 2016 it was found that ATS had planted RDX to frame Col Purohit and Sadhvi Pragya to prove Hindu extremism. Inspector Mehboob Abdul Karim Mujawar also confirmed in a video that ATS team had planted RDX to frame Purohit and Sadhvi Pragya.

In August 2017, Col Purohit was granted bail after spending 9 years in jail. Earlier, in April 2017, Sadhvi Pragya was granted bail too. The Bombay High Court, while granting bail to Sadhvi Pragya stated in its order that prima facie, there’s no case against her. The full text of the court’s order can be read here.

2007 – Mecca Masjid Blast

The USA and UN held Pakistan based HuJI (Harkat ul Jihad Islami) and LeT (Lashkar-e-Toiba) as responsible for the attack. South Asia Terrorism Portal (SATP) is still listing Pakistan based HuJI as responsible for the attack.

Government of India were however keen on pursuing a “Hindu terror” angle. Interrogators quizzed many RSS leaders and arrested Swami Aseemanand along with a few former RSS members. NIA filed charge-sheet against alleged Hindu activists.

Not surprisingly, the charges could not be proven. In 2018, the court cited “no evidence” against the accused and acquitted Swami Aseemanand along with all others accused of any involvement in the case

2008 – Mumbai Attack

An investigation by Pakistan’s top cop Tariq Khosa confirmed that Mumbai attack was planned and executed by Pakistan based militants.

Results of his investigation were published in Pakistani newspaper Dawn, which also confirmed that Kasab was a Pakistani national, his place of residence, his initial schooling and his joining a militant organization was established. Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) terrorists were imparted training near Thatta, Sindh and launched by sea from there and the ops room from where the operation was directed, was also identified in Karachi.

Yet, in 2010, Congress leader Digvijay Singh was busy launching the book which called Mumbai terror attacks as a conspiracy by RSS.

The statements from Congress leaders like A R Antulay (Chief Minister of Maharashtra) and Digvijay Singh were keen to put the blame for 26/11 Mumbai attack on India’s “Hindu extremists”. Aziz Burney blamed Modi and RSS as responsible for the attack

To summarize, there was credible input about Malegaon blast, Samjhauta Express blast and Mecca Masjid blast being carried out by LeT and HuJI. The biggest threat to India’s peace has always been from terrorist organizations based in Pakistan.

Yet, Congress government used up country’s resources and bandwidth to prove Indian individuals (Lt. Col Purohit, Swami Aseemanand and Sadhvi Pragya) as Hindu extremists.

Rest assured, if ASI Tukaram Omble had not nabbed Ajmal Kasab alive (and paid with his life), Congress would have arrested a few RSS members, forced a confession and made us believe that Mumbai attacks in which 150 civilians were killed were also orchestrated by Modi, RSS and Hindu extremists.

A detailed report in India Today confirmed that David Headley bought Hindu sacred threads for all Mumbai attackers. They were also given fake ids of a college in Hyderabad, India. The idea was that all attackers would be killed by security forces and then these “proofs” would be shown to portray them as Indian terrorists.

It is understandable that Pakistan would go all the way to hide their footprints and pin the blame on India. What’s surprising is Congress’s eagerness to play along and pin the blame on RSS and alleged Hindu extremists just because it benefits them in local politics.

Just to reiterate because the seriousness of this is seldom understood – if Kasab was not caught alive, Congress would have made us all believe that 26/11 Mumbai attacks were orchestrated by RSS and “Hindu extremists”

Only once people understand this aspect of Mumbai attack, people who let out a gasp on “BJP is fielding a terror accused against Digvijay Singh” may wake up to the possibility that the said candidate might also be a victim of a similar conspiracy.

Perpetrating the theory of “Hindu extremism” is a ploy that yields political dividend for Congress (voters were driven away from RSS/BJP and support Congress). However, this strategy not only weakens India’s stand against Pakistan supported terrorism, it also shows India in poor light on international stage.

Once people understand the above history in detail, they’ll also get insights into why in 2019 elections BJP has fielded Sadhvi Pragya against Digvijay Singh – the main conspirator of the “Hindu terror” theory.

If she wins elections against Digvijay Singh, it would send out a strong message that Congress’s strategy of blindly blaming Hindu groups for violence has failed, voters have comprehensively rejected the “Hindu terror” theory and Congress should stop propagating the same in future.