Muslim Anger vs. Hindu Anger – Excerpts

Excerpts from a paper by B Raman written just days befpre the Mumbai blasts:

The manner of the current investigation by the Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) of the Mumbai Police into an explosion at Malegaon in Maharashtra on September 30,2008, which mainly targeted and killed some local Muslims should be a matter of concern to all right-thinking Indians.

2. Large sections of the Muslims,the anti-Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) political class and the so-called secular elements in the Hindu community, which lose no opportunity to demonise the Hindu nationalists and the BJP in order to win the applause of the minorities and project themselves as liberals, have used the investigation to divert attention away from the hundreds of innocent civilians killed by the jihadi terrorists, many of them trained and assisted by the intelligence agencies of Pakistan and Bangladesh and inspired by the pan-Islamic ideology of Al Qaeda and its International Islamic Front (IIF).

3. They look upon the leaks from the ATS— many of them based on narco-analysis of dubious investigation and evidentiary value— as a pre-election Godsend in their campaign to project the Muslims as more sinned against than sinning and the nationalist-minded Hindus, who call for strong action against the jihadi terrorists, as chauvinists and Fascists.

4. This, despite the fact that resort to narco-analysis…has stood condemned in the rest of the civilised world…There is a vast body of literature calling into question its ability to yield legal truth. Additionally, narcoanalysis has serious legal and ethical implications.”

…7. On the basis of statements and remarks made by the suspects under the influence of drugs, which induce a state of semi-consciousness, large sections of the Hindu community have been sought to be demonised, the army has been unwittingly stigmatised and attention has been sought to be diverted from the investigation into acts of jihadi terrorism and from enquiries to establish the full extent of the so-called Indian Mujahideen iceberg.

8. I am proud to have been the first analyst to have drawn attention on October 2,2008, to the fact that the explosions of September 30 at Malegaon and Modasa in Gujarat did not gel with the explosions carried out in other parts of India by the jihadi terrorists. I was the first to have suggested that we should thoroughly investigate the suspected involvement of some Hindus in these blasts in order to gain the trust of the Muslim community and remove the misgivings in their mind about the fairness of the Police. I was the first to have suggested in a TV interview that if the Malegaon investigation warranted a re-visit to some of the past investigations into terrorist strikes in which Muslims were the main targets, the Police should not hesitate to do so.

9. I applauded the Mumbai ATS, when they started the investigation into the suspected involvement of some Hindus in the Malegaon blasts, but I have been greatly concerned over the manner in which their investigation—-instead of remaining professional and scientific— has taken what large sections of the Hindu majority of this country will view as a politically motivated direction. Some of the media leaks attributed to the Mumbai ATS make one think that the ATS has—wittingly or unwittingly— started playing to the so-called secularists’ gallery.

10. So many obvious questions, which should have been asked by objective opinion-makers, have not been asked. One of the suspects is alleged to have lent her motor-cycle to the perpetrators. Can one think of any instance in the recent history of terrorism in which a terrorist-suspect created evidence against himself or herself by using his or her own vehicle for planting an improvised explosive device (IED)?

11.A private military school, which coaches aspirants to a career in the Armed Forces, has been sought to be condemned on the ground that some of the suspects held a meeting in its premises. What is important is, what was the purpose of the meeting? Was it to plan specific acts of terrorism or was it merely to discuss how to counter anti-national jihadi terrorism? Innumerable meetings and seminars are held every year in presitgious training institutions of the Government to discuss, inter alia, appropriate strategies against jihadi terrorism, Pakistan and Bangladesh. Very often, the speakers call for strong retaliatory attacks against the terrorist organisations, Pakistan and Bangladesh? Are they to be viewed as instigators of terrorism and are our training institutions to be criticised for holding such discussions?

…16.The Mumbai ATS should investigate the blasts thoroughly and need not hesitate to have a second look at the Samjotha Express explosions, but they should do it in a professional manner, but not in a manner that adds to suspicions that the investigation has taken a pre-election political turn—– with the objective being to fix the Hindu nationalists and not to fix the terrorists.

17.I have written and spoken repeatedly about the spreading Muslim anger against what many Muslims look upon as the unfairness of the Indian criminal justice system against the Muslims. I have equally written and spoken frequently about the spreading Hindu anger against the Government and the so-called secularists over the failure to act strongly against the jihadi terrorists.

18. One should be careful to see that the manner of investigation by the ATS does not add to the Hindu anger…

19. This may please be read in continuation of my earlier article titled “Anti-Muslim Reprisal Terrorism?” at

Read the article in full here.