Click to play videoPanipat: The entire Sangh Parivar, from its political party to its religious and cultural wings, reunited at one place on Sunday in a show of solidarity they last flaunted during the Ram Janambhoomi agitation 20 years ago.
This time the agenda of the Sangh Parivar conclave in Panipat town of Haryana was to defend the accused in the Malegaon blast and fight the alleged harassment of Hindus.
BJP chief Rajnath Singh alleged Lt. Col. Prasad Shrikant Purohit, a serving Army officer, and Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur, a Hindu ascetic, had been unjustly arrested for the Malegaon blast.
"Politics in India has always had a deep relationship with religion in this country. I, on behalf of the BJP, want to assure the seers that maligning of their name by the UPA will not be tolerated by the party," said Singh.
Singh alleged that the UPA Government was framing Purohit and Thakur. "These investigations are inspired by political motives," he said.
RSS chief K S Sudarshan, the figurehead of the Sangh Parivar, read a poem in which he urged Hindus to protect their faith. "The concept of Hindu terrorism is sheer madness as the term Hindu stands for a tolerant and all-inclusive faith," said Sudarshan.
Hindu seers suggested forming a ‘Dharm Sangrakshan Samiti’ (religion protection committee) to counter what they alleged was the UPA government’s “vilification of Hindu saints and Army officers in the name of Hindu terrorism”.
VHP General Secretary Pravin Togadia claimed the UPA Government was on a witch-hunt. "A Hindu can never be a terrorist," he said.
Uttarakhand Chief Minister B C Khanduri, a retired lieutenant general, alleged that the Government was maligning Hindu saints and soldiers. "It is time that the Hindu community stands unified against such allegations (of Hindu terrorism)," said Khanduri.
The statements of these leaders were applauded by retired Army officers and spiritual leaders, a community the authorities claim form the core of Hindu militancy.
There is a clear reason for Hindu groups to come together now: the arrests of Hindu activists in the Malegaon blast could severely dent the BJP's anti-terror plank.
The entire Sangh Parivar, squabbling cousins like the BJP and the VHP included, is therefore compelled to bury its differences—at least temporarily.
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