Errors of omission?
How many times must the cannon balls fly, before they are forever banned? Poet-prophet Bob Dylan asked this question in a song he sang during the stormy ’60s, about the then raging war imposed by the US on Vietnam. The answer, he said, was “blowin’ in the wind”. It may not be a perfect analogy, but today, one is forced to ask the state governments in Goa and Maharashtra – both ruled by coalitions comprising the Congress and the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) – how many bomb blasts will it take before they realise that there is much more to the Sanatan Sanstha than meets the eyes of their police forces?
Let us look at the history of bomb blasts that the organisation’s members have been involved in. Bombs were planted in theatres in Thane and Navi Mumbai in May and June 2008. All these were showing a Marathi ‘nattok’ that the Sanstha said was ‘derogatory’ to Hinduism. Two of the bombs exploded, and one of them injured a person at the Gadkari Rangayatan theatre in Thane. Four of the Sanatan Sanstha’s ‘sadhaks’ were arrested in this connection, but the police said there wasn’t sufficient ‘evidence’ to link the organisation to the blast.
Then came the Margao blast in October 2009, which killed two Sanstha ‘sadhaks’ who were about to plant the bomb in the busy Narkasur parade in Goa’s commercial capital. Another bomb was found on a truck bound for the Vasco Narkasur parade, but it was defused before it could explode. This blast was investigated by both the Goa Police and the newly established National Investigating Agency (NIA). The latter has filed a chargesheet implicating nine persons, all closely connected to the Sanatan Sanstha, in the blasts. It says the conspiracy stretches from Goa to Pune and the Konkan. It points out that many of the accused lived in the Sanstha’s Goa ashram. It says the Sanstha organised military training for its ‘sadhaks’. But it stops short of saying that the organisation is involved in the blasts.
Sanatan Sanstha founder Jayant Balaji Athavale has gone so far as to say that Sanatan Sanstha ‘sadhaks’ could have been involved in the blasts because “they could not bear the desecration of places of Hindu worship”. Writing in the organisation’s mouthpiece ‘Sanatan Prabhat’, he termed such actions as ‘sacrifice’, adding: “Sanatan teaches how to sacrifice the body, soul and wealth. It’s only after these sacrifices that they mature in ‘sadhana‘.” He went on to say that the Sanstha does not teach anyone what kind of sacrifice one should make, as it should be with one’s “own thinking”. Islamic organisations whose members have been allegedly involved in bomb blasts have been swiftly banned with much less evidence…
Terrorists have no religion. They have no scruples. They have no respect for humanity. If allowed to get away repeatedly, they get emboldened. There is no saying what could happen next. As Bob Dylan said, the implications of the NIA’s omissions could be “blowin’ in the wind”.
Around the world
Commander Dilip Donde, the first Indian to circumnavigate the globe solo in a sailing boat, completed his epic voyage on Saturday. He gave the entire credit for his feat to his boat, ‘Mhadei’, which was built at Divar in Goa by Aquarius Fibreglass. Cdr Donde may be more modest than he should, but this is a proud moment for the State.
It’s a pity that Goan officialdom, however, doesn’t realise that Goa is naturally suited to be India’s yachting capital. The State is slowly but surely yielding that status to Kochi. For example, the Goa government’s lack of interest resulted in the Volvo Ocean Race going to Kochi. Now, its rude refusal to allow berthing facilities to the yachts of the Vasco da Gama rally has resulted in them opting for Kochi and refusing to ever come back to this State.
