New Delhi, July 18: The Terror side exhibited by the Rashtria Swayamsewak Sangh (RSS) cadre in vandalising media houses is clearly not shared by its political offspring, the Bharatiya Janata Party.
Besides party spokespersons denying RSS’s alleged links with terror, there has been no structured comment by any senior BJP leader. L. K. Advani, Nitin Gadkari, Arun Jaitley or Sushma Swaraj, none of them have commented on the issue.
Even if the RSS’s argument that the evidence linking them to terror strikes was a Congress conspiracy is valid, there seemed to be none to forcefully articulate it.
The leader who could defend the RSS most effectively, Advani, has chosen to comment on “ Hindu influence on Indonesia”. In his latest blog, excerpts of which were eagerly circulated by the BJP’s media cell on Saturday, Advani dwelt on his recent Indonesian sojourn.
“ For a visitor to Jakarta, the most striking landmark right in the centre of the city is the magnificently constructed Shri Krishna- Arjuna pair mounted on a multiplehorse- drawn chariot. In Indonesia, the names of places, of people, and the nomenclature of institutions also give one a clear impression of a benign Sanskrit influence,” Advani wrote on a day senior RSS leaders such as Indresh Kumar were busy issuing clarifications about their non- involvement in any terror strike.
Advani’s travelogue was devoid of any political message.
He went on to celebrate the influences of Indian mythology on Indonesia. “ It certainly pleased me to gather that the official mascot of military intelligence in Indonesia is Hanuman. The rationale offered by a local was it was Hanuman who had been able to trace… Sita,” Advani wrote.
There have been two official press conferences by the BJP in the last two days — one addressed by spokesperson Ravi Shankar Prasad on the Indo- Pak talks on Friday and the other on price rise by Delhi leader Vijay Goel on Saturday. The BJP spokespersons defended the RSS on specific questions regarding the organisation’s alleged terror links. But there was no suo motu comment on an issue that has troubled their ideological mother, the RSS, so much that they took to vandalising media houses.
In fact, Prasad was so focused on Pakistan that he said he would not take any other questions during his press conference. However, when contacted specifically to comment on the RSS’s alleged terror links, Prasad gave a detailed statement condemning the mob attack and defending the RSS. Jaitley has also maintained a studied silence over the issue while Swaraj, who issued a detailed statement on the Indo- Pak talks on Friday, chose not to say anything on what was troubling the RSS. Even the RSS’s handpicked man to run the BJP, Gadkari, has not jumped to their defence in this hour of need.
So, the Sangh has been left more or less to defend itself.
Courtesy: Mailtoday