TERRORISM IS NOT COLOUR BOUND

The statement by the union minister Mr. P. Chidambaram associating terrorism with saffron colour should be condemned. But, in reality some perverted elements of the community holding the colour in religious respect have been at work to destroy the unity of India, using it to show off their presence in the country.

Terrorism has no colour’, say the leaders of the Hindu community demanding Mr. Chidambaram’s resignation or sacking for using the term “saffron terrorism” to explain the latest series of terrorist activities initiated by extremist Hindu outfits in India. The past months India has witnessed many cases in which terrorists with Hindu names and saffron clothes were arrested.

The Bharatiya Janata Party and their kin have been demanding an apology from the union home minister for hurting people’s sentiments using the saffron “colour”; the colour that represents their religion, their culture, their traditions and their flag.

Terrorism has become a curse for India. All the political parties show resolve to eliminate it from the country’s soil but its threat increases by with the passage of the day.

It is unfortunate that instead of giving a united fight against terrorism the political parties are indulging in politics in the name of terrorism. An unbiased view will be that terrorism has no colour neither it is specified to a particular religion or region. It may happen coincidently that in some cases people who are found involved in terror activities use a certain colour as their identity.

Saffron is the colour of saints, sadhus and Rajputs who laid their lives for their motherland. Any terrorism in any guise is terrorism.

Likewise, it is also wrong to say with certainty that people associated with some colour can never be wrong. Ravan was in saffron robe when he abducted Sita. It does not mean that he was not a terrorist. At the same time it cannot be said that since he wore saffron colour it is an insult to that colour.

Saffron is the colour of saints, sadhus and Rajputs who laid their lives for their motherland. Any terrorism in any guise is terrorism. Like Ravan who wore saffron to abduct Sita, BJP has also adopted saffron colour to hold Indian unity to ransom. People who were saffron robes were involved in bomb blasts in Modasa and Malegaon.
To curb terrorism stringent laws are not needed but strong willpower is needed.

When BJP was in centre there were laws like POTA. But they did not have strong willpower to fight against terrorism and so during BJP rule there were terrorist attacks on several places like Raghunath Mandir, Parliament, Red Fort and Akshardham.

It was the strong willpower of UPA government that a terrorist was caught alive in Mumbai and after his narco analysis test India proved to the world that terrorists were being aided by Pakistan. Under pressure from international community despite its unwillingness Pakistan was forced by the Central government to take action against terrorist camps. Consequently the terrorists have turned against Pakistan government and instead of coming to India they are carrying out bomb blasts in Pakistan itself.

To curb terrorism stringent laws are not needed but strong willpower is needed. When BJP was in centre there were laws like POTA. But they did not have strong willpower to fight against terrorism and so during BJP rule there were terrorist attacks on several places like Raghunath Mandir, Parliament, Red Fort and Akshardham.

This is due to the silent efforts of the present central government. Dr. Manmohan Singh’s and Mrs. Sonia Gandhi leadership. Both have impeccable records in politics, unlike their predecessors. On the other hand during the BJP’s rule instead of making Pakistan bow down Musharaff was called here and great hope was pinned on him. Instead of arresting any terrorist the BJP released a terrorist from jail and send them to Kandahar.

Chief Minister of Gujarat wishes that he should be safe and secure but terrorists should attack the state so that he can play his vote bank politics. Terrorists never used to come to Gujarat in the past. But during the rule of present Chief Minister the situation is such that his bungalow is like a fortress and terrorists struck Akshardham which is just opposite his bungalow.

The condemnation of associating terrorism with saffron colour should not undermine the threat posed by those for whom the saffron colour is their licence to indulge in criminal activity. After some of these traitors were put behind bars there has not been a single blast.

Why did the BJP reward Jethmalani who defended Afzal Guru? The same Jethmalani who defended Afzal is now the advocate for Amit Shah.

Narendra Modi while addressing a crowd in Bodakdev of Ahmedabad recently said: “Is not there a saffron flag on a temple? Would you call it a centre of terrorist activity? Many who wore saffron sacrificed for the country. Are you calling them terrorist? The prime minister has to apologise to the people of the country for this.”

The condemnation of associating terrorism with saffron colour should not undermine the threat posed by those for whom the saffron colour is their licence to indulge in criminal activity. After some of these traitors were put behind bars there has not been a single blast.

Do you salute the national flag? Isn’t saffron the colour of people and the country? This Central Government is calling you a terrorist,” said Narendra Modi, the hero of the mindset which promotes what is now being called saffron terror.
The first vital leads of this new form of militant Hindu terror were unearthed by Hemant Karkare before attaining martyrdom on 26/11. If anybody brought the holy saffron into disrepute, they are those sadhvis, swamis, retired Army officers and members of ultra right-wing outfits like Sanatan Sanstha and Abhinav Bharat who allegedly orchestrated several bomb blasts. Instead of denying it or protecting them, it’s our collective responsibility for the nation to help expose and punish all kinds of terror outfits without any religious or regional bias. Their acts are anti-Hindu and anti-national. Religion for them is a veneer to hide a malicious political agenda and climb the political ladder.

Six municipal corporations of Gujarat will be witnessing election in a month. And it appears the issue of saffron terrorism will be one of the main issues for the BJP. Already, starting from Rajkot, a good number of hoardings are being put up with Narendra Modi’s photo, the Tricolour along with the text: “Bhagavo chhe deshbhakti no saad, Congress kahe chhe Aatankvad.” (Saffron is voice of patriotism, but Congress says it’s terrorism).


Instead of denying it or protecting them, it’s our collective responsibility for the nation to help expose and punish all kinds of terror outfits without any religious or regional bias. Their acts are anti-Hindu and anti-national. Religion for them is a veneer to hide a malicious political agenda and climb the political ladder.


Neither the terrorists, nor people are colour-blind. Every terror has an extreme shade of a given colour. Sooner we identify and isolate it, the better it is for the nation.

Unfortunately, the power in democracy is all about numbers. The truck-load of paid taporis love to whistle on every illogical rhetorical remark which comes their way. The sovereign Republic of India stands for egalitarianism, trans-religious secularism and national unity based on fraternity. The politics of vote-bank and appeasement has destroyed this country. Meanwhile, in charged-up atmosphere due to saffron terrorism issue, Modi once again proved that voters of Gujarat are with the BJP. Kathlal is known to be a Congress reign, a seat that Congress never lost since Independence of India. It was said that the Congress can never lose here. With the BJP’s victory with whopping margin of 21,547 votes, Kathlal is no more a Congress bastion.

Instead of doing politics over terrorism, as is being done so far, all the political parties had better come up with a unanimous strategy to tackle the menace. Why not take immediate action against those shielding the terrorists or assisting them?


Abdul Hafiz Lakhani
lakhani63@yahoo.com