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There is a lack of political will togo after them

The recent spotlight on Hindu right-wing organisations Sanatan Sanstha and Hindu Janjagruti Sena (HJS) for their involvement in the murder of social activists and rationalists such as Govind Pansare, Narendra Dabholkar and M.M. Kalburgi has forced the central intelligence agencies to focus on an area they have traditionally neglected.

For instance, over the last month, they have received hundreds of inputs about the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), the Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM), the Hizbul Mujahideen (HM), and the newly created Laskhar-e-Islami planning terrorist strikes in India. Islamic State (IS), too, is under the scanner. But Hindu right-wing groups, or fringe organisations as they are commonly referred to, seldom find mention in these alerts, several counter-terrorism officials confirmed to The Hindu . They said that while they have been able to prove the involvement of certain individuals, it has been difficult to prove the culpability of the entire organisation, as they had done in the case of Students’ Islamic Movement of India (SIMI) and the Indian Mujahideen, both of which were banned.

For example, a copy of an input generated by the intelligence agencies in August ( The Hindu has a copy) mentions threats from farmers agitation to Al Qaeda to those from paragliders but none on any Hindu fringe group.

While lack of resources is mentioned as an excuse not to investigate the Hindu outfits, there has also not been any serious effort to join the dots.

RSS cautious about running with SNDP

The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), which will have the final say on electoral ties of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), is treading cautiously over the question of allying with the Sree Narayana Dharma Paripalana (SNDP) Yogam.

Amidst the din over the BJP pushing for a third alternative to the Left Democratic Front (LDF) and the United Democratic Front (UDF) with the Yogam at the helm, sources say the RSS leadership is carefully examining the pros and cons before deciding to have one particular community organisation at the helm of a possible BJP alliance. The perception that such an alliance would help the BJP to improve its prospects does not seem to have enthused the RSS leadership. Sources say it is more wary about the prospect of such an alliance straining the delicate relations that the BJP has with other communities, mainly the Nair Service Society (NSS) and others nursing serious differences with the current Yogam leadership on a slew of issues.

Apprehensions are, it could potentially lead to even forfeiting the gains the BJP had accrued over the years.

Even while mooting the formation of an umbrella comprising Hindu organisations under the Yogam’s tutelage, vastly differing reservation demands pursued by these organisations continue to stymie chances of holding them together.

Sources say the RSS would ideally prefer a tactical understanding with all communities to ensure maximum gains in the elections, by preserving relations with other outfits too.