Amarnath massacre — Sangh targets Advani

In a letter to Advani, VHP president Vishnu Hari Dalmia has demanded that the ministry should “look into the security arrangements made for the safety of Amarnath pilgrims and where did the security lapse took place, so as to fix the responsibility for this ghastly massacre, on those who are found guilty for the let up.”

The tone was set by BJP MP Narendra Mohan in the Rajya Sabha on Thursday who made a scathing attack on the Central Government holding it responsible for the murder of the pilgrims.

Not to be left out, BJP leaders, specially ones close to the RSS and Vishwa Hindu Parishad, have been more vociferous in their criticism of the central government. “When intelligence agencies had already warned about impending terrorist strikes, why no preventive measures were taken by the Government,” asked a BJP MP owing allegiance to the VHP.

BJP leaders also question the silence maintained by Advani on the issue. Only the Prime Minister has been replying to opposition charges in both houses of the Parliament while Home Minister offered clarification to opposition charges in Rajya Sabha on Thursday, admitting his responsibility for the security lapses which he said “will be plugged”. He was not part of the all-party delegation led by Vajpayee which went to the Kashmir valley, nor did he visit the massacre sites.

Citing newspaper reports Dalmia has raised allegations against the J&K police. “It is quite apparent that the role of State Government police personnel has been suspicious. I won’t be surprised if they had connived with the terrorists in the massacre,” his letter said. He demanded that the Centre should take the full responsibility of providing security to such pilgrims instead of leaving the matter to the State Government.

The security personnel from Central Reserve Police Force, Border Security Force, Indo-Tibetan Border Police, Rapid Action Force and the Army should alone be entrusted with the responsibility to instill greater confidence amongst those who go for Amarnath pilgrimage, the VHP president said.

The only Sangh Parivar luminary who seems to have spared Advani is the RSS chief K S Sudarshan itself who has instead targeted the Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Farooq Abdullah.