Congress Helps Terrorism for Secularism

Though there are many cases to prove ‘Congress Helps Terrorism for Secularism’ being their agenda, we like to confine only to two cases and in particular two persons – viz. Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur and Colonel Shrikant Purohit .

Before going into specifics, let us briefly narrate the two bomb blasts wherein both Pragya and Purohit were allegedly involved:

1.2007 - February Samjhauta Express Bombings - 18 February 2007 - 68 people killed and dozens injured. Linked to Abhinav Bharat and in November 2008, Shrikant Purohit, an Indian army officer and member of Abhinav Bharat. Pragya was also brought into the picture as involved.

2.2008 Malegaon II & Modasa blasts - on 29 September 2008 - 3 bombs exploded in states of Gujarat and Maharashtra killing 8 persons and injuring 80. Two bombs went off in Malegaon, Maharashtra, which killed seven people while another blast in Modasa, Gujarat resulted in the death of one person. Here also, Pragya and Purohit were arrested and accused of being involved in these 2 blasts – particularly 2008 Malegaon II balst. (There is 2006 - Malaegaon I bomb blast happened on September 8, 2006 - 4 explosions, 31 killed - 312 injured. NIA which took over the case on April 4, 2011, later said the blasts were handwork of Asseemanand’s supporters. And 2008 Malegaon is termed as Second Malegaon Blast).

In respect of item 1, on April 15, 2015, the Apex Court ruled that there was no evidence to charge Sadhvi Pragya and Shrikant Purohit under the stringent MCOCA and the Investigation Agency had found no evidence against Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur and it  recommended the court to drop all charges against her. Further recently, National Investigation Agency (NIA) officials hinted that there was no evidence against Lt. Col. Prasad Purohit in the Samjhauta blast case. Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar said the ministry would  provide documents to Lt. Col. Prasad Shrikant Purohit, that he needs to defend himself in the 2008 Malegaon blasts case.

Only concrete evidence produced in the court to link Sadhvi Pragya Thakur was a motorcycle belonging to her which was used in the Malegaon blast. She had sold it four years ago of the blast occurrence through her close associate Manoj Sharma getting Rs.23,000/- - but, perhaps the buyer had not changed the ownership of the bike.

All most all witnesses had gone hostile.

The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) had initiated a probe into the allegation that Melagaon blast accused Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur was illegally detained and tortured by the Maharashtra ATS and state police. The statement was recorded at the Ved Khushilal Ayurvedic College where Pragya was undergoing treatment as the lower part of her body was now paralysed, which she claimeds was an outcome of the police atrocities. She revealed that the Maharashtra police beat her with leather belts through the nights, starved her for 24 days without even a morsel of food, gave her electric shocks, verbally abused her and made her listen to objectionable pornographic recordings in the company of male undertrials. When an undertrial objected at the Kala Chouki police station on October 26, 2008, he was brutally beaten. She had named Maharastrha ATS police officials Suvarna Shinde, Paramveer Singh and one more police – apart from other male police for her inhuman and tortuous treatments. She was even called a prostitute linking her to a spiritual guru she considered like a father-figure. She repeatedly told the MCOCA Court in Mumbai of the excesses and when she would be taken to the hospital for treatment, the doctors would be instructed to write that she was fine and returned to custody without any treatment. L.K.Advani, on reading her affidavit, had come heavily on Maharashtra ATS which, accordingly to him, had lost all moral authority and had gone to the extent of demanding a change in the MATS team and a judicial inquiry be ordered to probe the charges made by Sadhvi Pragya and the manner in which unsubstantiated allegations had been made against Col. Purohit.

In the case of Col. Purohit, it was still worst, as there were no concrete evidence to book him linking to these two blasts. Even During an army's Court of Inquiry as many as 59 witnesses stated to the court that Purohit was doing his job (of gathering intelligence inputs) by infiltrating extremist organizations. Officers have testified that he was doing what he was asked to do as a military intelligence man. In April of 2016, Director General of NIA requested the United States government to provide information on LeT Key financier Arif Qasmani. The US charge sheet in 2009 accused Qasmani of funding the these blasts. Later, in April 2016, NIA declared that there is no evidence of Lt Col Purohit's involvement in the bombings.

It is a cruel fact that Army Intelligence Officer Lt Col Purohit is agonising in Jail for Six Years without Trial and it is also a shame on the Army Organisation to keep Purohit under a "Discipline Vigilance" ban for so long where he would not be sacked unless a court of law finds him guilty.  While Purohit was undergoing the Arabic Language Course at Panchmarhi in MP,  on 29th October 2008, he was ordered by Lt. Col. G.C.Kohanta, Adjutant, Army Education Corps College to report to Delhi Office for interaction with Military Intelligence accompanied by Col. R.K.Shrivastav who took Purohit to Mumbai instead of Delhi and handed over him to MATS for interrogation.  

This illegal interrogation and torture were from 29th October to 4th November 2008 – this was an illegal detention by the ATS in an unknown private establishment in the hill town of Khandala near Mumbai and only on 5th November 2008 – i.e. only after 7 days, Purohit was officially declared as Accused No. 9 by the MATS and was shown to be officially arrested.

The torture story of Purohit as revealed by him: Col.Shrivastav (Director Military Intelligence – 9) initiated a brutal physical assault on me, slapped me on my face at will and continued slapping me and started kicking me all over the body by his shoes on. He pulled my hair on head and chest as well. At this stage the other interrogators, including the Indian Police Service cadre officers of Anti-Terrorism Squad and Intelligence Bureau Officers, joined him in physically assaulting me. Shrivastav then stood on my feet and legs as I was tied to a chair and inhumanly started twisting my nipples and my genitals with all his strength. Shrivastav ordered the Police to handcuff me against the laid down rules and I was remained in that condition till 4-11-2008.  During these days, I was not allowed to talk to my family members even once over the telephone. Shrivastav kept on insisting that I should own up my involvement in the Malegaon Bomb Blast and should give it in writing, to which I asked him how I could own up something which I am not even aware of.  Purohit could narrate the story of his illegal detention, abduction, brutal torture and diverse forms of coercion to Aparna Purohit, his wife on 15th November 2008 only, when he met her in the court at Nashik. On the next day itself – i.e.16th November 2008, she wrote a letter to the COAS (Chief of the Army Staff) describing what she had learnt from her husband, but, she had not received any response.  Purohit’s medical exam conducted in mid-December 2008 at INS Ashwini confirmed that the nerves of both his hands were damaged in addition to permanent damage caused to his right knee. This was the same knee which had been reconstructed after injuries he had suffered during combat operations against terrorists in Kashmir.

“Movement Order” was forged with the alteration of destinations from Delhi to Mumbai by Shrivastav and his action in handing him over to the MATS in charge, Hemant Karkare in Mumbai instead of at least taking him to the army base in Mumbai was an another act of breach of trust/rule. 

The likelihood of Purohit being a victim of a deep-seated conspiracy is heightened by the fact that:

1.     The Army Court of Inquiry did not find him guilty which is why he has neither been suspended nor dismissed from the army despite being in jail for so many years. The army continues to pay Purohit’s wife his full salary. Had there been any evidence of him having played foul, it is highly unlikely that the army would have withheld his dismissal for so many years.

2.    The commendation he has received in the “Confidential Reports” from his seniors as well as from the Police officials with whom he was coordinating his intelligence operations testify his commitments and dedication in his discharge of his duties.

3.      R K Shrivastav’s responses to his cross examination by Purohit and a junior officer like Subedar Pawar were evasive and slimy whereas the questions posed to him by Purohit and Pawar both junior in rank to him were direct and forthright and hence, the Army’s Court of Inquiry did not give credence to Shrivastav’s charges against Purohit and Pawar.

4.     The two real eye witnesses have testified against Bagade and Shrivastav and in favour of Purohit. Their testimonies clearly point towards a well-planned though clumsily executed conspiracy to falsely implicate Purohit. Eight other witnesses also cleared Purohit of all the charges levelled by the ATS. Even Capt. Joshi, the only witness who implicated Purohit’s name with the Malegaon blasts had not only retracted his statement but lodged a complaint with the State Human Rights Commission alleging coercion, deadly threats and outright blackmail with a view  to extract false testimony against Purohit.

5.     The circumstantial evidence also favours Purohit and shows ATS in a very sinister light. Its officers acted lawlessly, indulging in abduction, forgery, cheating and misleading the army establishment, indulging in third degree torture of a serving army officer and declaring him guilty even before the trial began.

Possible Reasons Why Purohit was Targeted

Lt. Col. Purohit is likely to have been victimized in such an ominous manner because of his role in cracking ISI linked terrorist networks. Purohit had succeeded in infiltrating SIMI and other ISI patronised terror modules in India, including their front organisations in the field of education, culture, media, religion, and even political parties. Purohit had actually prepared two power point presentations on the ISI and SIMI – their relationship as well as their mode of operation. These were meant for briefing his seniors and as training modules. He also unearthed SIMI’s patrons and collaborators in mainstream politics. His expertise in the field was so well acknowledged that he was invited by the very ATS which incarcerated him, to train its own officers. This is what Himanshu Roy the Police Commissioner of Nashik District wrote in appreciation of his services: “This is to put in on record, the assistance and co-operation experienced between Nashik City Police and Military Intelligence of Southern Command represented by you for over a period of last one and half year. You have shared information of vital and sensitive nature with the Police which has proved useful to both the organisations. An educative workshop comprising of … SIMI and ISI conducted by you on 11 Nov. 2006 was also of great help to our organisation. The workshop reflects the depth of your knowledge regarding your specialised subjects of Islam, SIMI and ISI. I am confident that we will continue to get such cooperation in future also.”

But with the agenda of UPAs Government to target and malign Hindu Organizations with the series of bomb blasts taking place with no meaningful break through, Congress Party had embarked on a grand scheme to somehow book some Hindu Right Wings Organization on a war footing with due cooperation of ATS, NIA, CBI, IB and even army wings and floated the slogan of ‘O, India! Beware of Saffron Terror’ thereby to corner the Muslim Votes. Such Dirty Politics could not succeed, as the Truly Indian Nationalists could sense such sinister plan and voted Modi to power with absolute majority in the Lok Sabha and Modi became the Prime Minister of India and India becomes Safe and Secure.

Even nine Muslim Men booked under the September 2006 – Malegaon I bombing were released from police custody, as no evidence could be found to link those nine Muslims to the bombing.  Justice should be rendered irrespective of the religions.

THINK INDIA THINK.