Hindu terrorists a need, says Thackeray, Singhal differs

WITH the Antulay controversy sharply dividing parties, Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray added fuel to the fire on Tuesday saying he favoured the emergence of extremists among the Hindu community.

WITH the Antulay controversy sharply dividing parties, Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray added fuel to the fire on Tuesday saying he favoured the emergence of extremists among the Hindu community.

8220;I have started feeling terrorists must be born even in Hindus. Or else these atrocities on Malegaon blasts accused Sadhvi Pragya and Lt Colonel Prasad Purohit would not have taken place. The police would not have dared to do it,8221; said Thackeray, in the second part of a serialised interview to Saamna executive editor and Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Raut.

Replying to questions on Hindus being painted as terrorists after the Malegaon blasts, Thackeray said he would be 8220;happy if they were like that8230; Hindus do not rebel. They don8217;t do anything. Just condemnations and morchas8221;.

Shortly after Thackeray8217;s interview was published in Saamna8217;s front page, VHP president Ashok Singhal rejected the suggestion, saying the term 8220;Hindu terrorism8221; was a coinage of Congress president Sonia Gandhi. He said it was not necessary to have extremists among Hindus as the country had a 10 lakh strong Army to fight a war with terrorism.

Singhal went on to criticise the release of terrorists in exchange for hijacked Indian Airlines passengers in Kandahar, done under a BJP-led Government, calling it the cowardly way out and saying such politicians had 8220;no right to rule8221;.

Asked if he was attacking the BJP and then foreign minister Jaswant Singh, who had accompanied the terrorists to Kandahar, Singhal said 8220;the question was not for one politician but for all politicians8221;. The VHP leader also demanded that Union Minority Affairs Minister Antulay be thrown 8220;out of politics8221; as his statements had made 8220;his identity clear8221;.

Thackeray talked of political pressure to 8220;crush8221; Hindus. 8220;However there is no pressure outside when such atrocities are committed. Such a pressure must be created by the Hindus. But we only organised morchas for Sadhvi Pragya and Purohit. Only burnt the effigies of the ATS, that is, the Government8230; The burning of statues does not singe them,8221; he said.

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Like Thackeray, Singhal too advocated war on Pakistan, after doing the necessary 8220;homework8221;, including snapping diplomatic ties with Pakistan and destroying ISI bases in India.

He claimed that some army generals had told him it was possible to overrun Pakistan in a matter of days and that Pakistan had no 8220;strength8221; to retaliate.