1 min readAmbernathNov 14, 2002 12:00 AM IST
First published on: Nov 14, 2002 at 12:00 AM IST
Bal Thackeray’s idea of Hindu suicide squads seems to be more than just an idea to a retired Army officer. The ‘Hindustan Atma Ghatki Pathak’ Hindustan Suicide Squad was launched today by Pune-based Col retd Jayant Chitale in Ambernath, 65 km from Mumbai.
The squad has 45 young men who completed commando training and signed a bond that they were willing to die for the country.
Though both Chitale and the Shiv Sena deny any links, the chief guest at today’s function was Premnath Hoon, former chief of the Army’s Western Command and who is currently head of the Shiv Sena’s Army welfare cell.
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Lashkar, here we come! Express photo by Deepak Joshi
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‘‘There should be both men and women in this kind of an academy,’’ Hoon said. ‘‘It should also be opened across the country to counter Pak-sponsored terrorism.’’
Chitale — who runs a ‘commando training camp’ here — acknowledges that Thackeray’s idea is close to his heart. ‘‘What Thackeray said was always in our heart, it’s just that we’ve got an impetus now.’’
And, when contacted, Sena leader Raj Thackeray said: ‘‘They may be inspired by Balasaheb’s speech, but neither this project nor the people have any connection with the Shiv Sena.’’
Either way, Maharashtra Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh has asked the state intelligence department to conduct a probe. He said: ‘‘I have been informed that it was a normal type of training and not of suicide squads. I have asked the police to find out their objectives and the type of training they were given.’’
Chitale’s Maharashtra Commando Academy runs regular military training programmes for young men; he also runs the Maharashtra Military Foundation in Pune and has had a couple of disastrous attempts at electoral politics. Today’s function was the valedictory session of a 15-day programme for 45 youths aged 16-29. Though they received the same training given to the other 500 boys in the academy after paying Rs 1,500 as course fees, this was the first time that the academy made their parents sign the bond.
These youths, Chitale said, will be now given super commando training — how to use rifles, machine guns and bombs. ‘‘We will wait for a year to see the fate of terrorism; if it does not decline, we will write to the Central Government to send our boys to launch attacks.’’
Some of the participants are college students, others are employed. Bhushan Vaid, a first-year BA student, says: ‘‘I was always attracted to military warfare. My family supports my decision. When we joined we were told about the suicide squad.’’ Chitale is determined to form more suicide squads.
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