At least in the popular psyche of our nation fixing is usually associated with cricket. The unravelling facts in the cases such as Samjhauta Blasts and Ishrat Jahan encounter are pointing the needle of suspicion towards many prominent actors during the UPA government, who can be called as ‘political fixers’.
The plot to underplay a terror plot of which Ishrat Jahan was involved and many actors in this great game did their best confer her martyr status is discussed multiple times. The revelation that the then Home Minister P Chidambaram had signed both the affidavits, claiming Ishrat to be JeM operative and later changing that stand, has just ratified that grand design. Congress party’s stand that the real issue is of fake encounter and if at all, it is the home ministry that is responsible for the changing the stand is sign of deterioration in the political understanding of the grand old party. Who were the unseen hands in hatching this conspiracy, were they limited to Congress or still entrenched in the system, was the conspiracy limited to Bharat or the links go beyond that are many such questions which need answers.
The latest addition to this thickening stratagem is disclosures related to Samjhauta Blast case. Clarification by the NIA that there is no evidence against Col Purohit in the train blast case occurred in 2007 is startling. Allegations by her wife that he was tortured to make confessions are more shocking. Col Purohit known to be upright and able officer, gone by the versions of his colleagues, has been in jail for more than seven years without any trial. No charge sheet is filed and now the clearing up without any evidence put questions marks on our investigation agencies, justice delivery system and more importantly political class operating behind it.
In the Samjhauta blast case too, immediately after the incident government had blamed Lashkar-e-Taiba, Pakistan supported terrorist group for the blast. Only at the later stage, the names of some members of Hindu nationalist organisation called Abhinav Bharat were cropped up. Interestingly in the same case, Treasury department of the US government under Executive Order 13224A (https://www.treasury.gov/press-center/press-releases/Pages/tg192.aspx ) declared Arif Qasmani, the chief coordinator for Lashkar-e Tayyiba”s (LET) dealings with outside organisations, to be involved in the attack. This decision was based on the inclusion of his name in the list of international terrorists by the United Nations Security Council Al-Qaida and Taliban Sanctions Committee (http://www.un.org/press/en/2009/sc9695.doc.htm) due to his role in Mumbai and Samjhauta train blasts. The then government in Bharat either overlooked these developments or deliberately concealed them for some dubious reasons. Many people are in jail without any trial and human rights organisations that were in the forefront to save accused from so called minority community are dead silent on this issue.
If we link all this to another heinous attempt by another home minister in the UPA government, Sushil Kumar Shinde, to coin the terms like ‘Hindu Terror’ or ‘Saffron Terror’, and Gandhi scion Rahul Gandhi allegedly telling the then US ambassador that “radical Hindu groups may pose bigger threat than LeT in India”, we can reach to logical conclusions. This is a clear indication that the target was not just an individual but entire gamut of ideology which was seen as a political threat. The time is ripe to expose the strategy of political fixing of opponents while playing with the national security and democratic institutions.
@PrafullaKetkar
