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This Fringe Group Was Behind The Rumour Of Mass Conversion Of Dalits To Islam In Tamil Nadu, And Here’s Why It Did What It Did
by M R Subramani - Dec 31, 2019, 2:59 pm
State of Tamil Nadu
Snapshot
On 25 December this year, mainstream media in Tamil Nadu reported that 3,000 Dalits would convert to Islam following the state government’s ‘failure’ to take action on an incident in which a wall collapse at Nadur in Coimbatore district left 17 persons dead.
However, enquiries by various organisations and Swarajya reveal that they were mere rumours and the needle of suspicion points to a fringe outfit called Tamil Puligal Katchi (TPK or Tamil Tigers Party) for spreading them.
The TPK and its cadres, political activists in Mettupalayam allege, are the ones who have spread this rumour, aggrieved over the continuous detention of their leader Nagai Thiruvalluvan.
Thiruvalluvan was arrested on 3 December along with 24 persons for attempting to create unrest in Mettupalayam, 40 km from Coimbatore.
They attempted to mislead people on the death of 17 persons in a wall collapse at Nadur village near Mettupalayam.
Political activists in Mettupalayam say though Thiruvalluvan was given bail on 6 December, he was arrested the next day in connection with a stone pelting case at a government transport corporation bus in Dharapuram in Tirupur district.
The stone pelting incident occurred on 2 December and three more persons were arrested for the incident in which two persons were injured and the bus was damaged.
“There are many cases pending against Thiruvalluvan. He is a fit case to be detained under the Goondas Act,” said a political activist in Mettupalayam without identifying himself.
Since Thiruvalluvan has been under detention for nearly a month, the TKP has been arguing that while those responsible for the wall collapse have been let out on bail, its leader is being detained continuously since he belongs to the Scheduled Caste.
“The TKP and its cadres are unable to digest the fact that their leader has not able to get bail and hence, they resorted to spreading rumours,” the activist said.
What exactly is the problem relating to the wall collapse incident ?
Seventeen persons, including 12 women and two children, were killed when the compound wall of a house fell on four houses following heavy rains in the region.
Opposition parties in Tamil Nadu tried to whip up passions over the deaths, alleging that the wall was constructed to prevent the Adi Dravidas — who are notified Scheduled Castes — from entering the area of the upper caste people.
S Sivasubramanian, the owner of the premises whose wall collapsed, belonged to the Other Backward Community (OBC) caste. A textile shop owner, he was arrested on 6 December. (The Madras High Court gave him conditional bail on 20 December. )
Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) president M K Stalin initially termed the deaths as “victims of untouchability wall” before changing his stand within an hour.
A few political organisations such as the Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Kazhagam (VCK and Tamil Nadu Muslim Munnetra Kazhagam (TMMK) tried to politicise the tragedy by repeatedly referring to wall as “theendamai suvar”‘ or wall of caste discrimination.
Swift police action through arrests of those attempting to provoke “social” unrest helped to bring the situation under control by 8 December.
VCK and TMMK demanded that the textile shop owner be charged with provisions of the Scheduled Castes and Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act as the those killed were Adi Dravidas.
Their main contention was the wall was 20 feet high and it was constructed as Sivasubramanian did not want to see the Adi Dravidas living behind his compound.
Those who raised the discrimination charges alleged that a compound wall cannot be over eight or nine feet in height.
They claimed that Nadur residents objected to the height of the wall, including with Revenue Department officials, but they received “casteist slurs” as a response.
According to Krishnaswamy, the brother of Sivasubramaniam, the portion of the wall that collapsed was on a property that was bought 30 years ago.
The wall was there when the property was bought and Sivasubramanian had only carried out maintenance works on it.
Krishnaswamy said the height of the wall was raised by about two feet to around 10 feet, mainly to prevent people jumping into their compound.
Those defending Sivasubramanian say that the wall looked taller than the original height as the compound was situated on a higher altitude in Cooperative Colony and from Nadur, which was adjacent to it, the wall appeared to be a huge one.
Local politicians contended that the allegation of “wall of discrimination” were raised by “outsiders” — those who did not belong to Mettupalayam.
Then, Puthiya Tamizhagam leader K Krishnaswamy, who lives near Coimbatore, termed the controversy as a needless diversion and filing cases under the Scheduled Castes and Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act was not warranted.
In the Lok Sabha, VCK Member of Parliament D Ravikumar claimed the wall was an illegal construction. But Revenue Department officials say that the wall has been constructed on a compound that was duly registered.
Ravikumar, however, conceded that there was no clear-cut definition on what was a “wall of discrimination” and added that the wall should have been constructed in a way that it would not affect people.
Thus, attempts to play up the incident and gain political mileage petered out.
“When media reported that people were going to convert to Islam, some of us visited Nadur. The people there are upset that they are in the news for the wrong reasons. They have no intention or plan to convert as they are all devout Vaishnavites,” the political activist said.
On social media, too, the conversion was denied with videos of the denial making rounds. In the video, the locals are seen saying that no Muslim would be allowed into their village for conversion.
The Indu Makkal Katchi, on its part, visited the village and put out this video to call media reports on conversion as “fake news”.
The reports of religious conversion made rounds for two reasons. One, trouble makers wanted to revive their efforts to create unrest for vested interests. Two, the TKP and its cadre tried to spread the rumour mainly because they were upset over the continuous detention of Thiruvalluvan.
The problem for these vested interests is that the Tamil Nadu police seems to be alert to these manoeuvres of these “trouble creators” and is sparing no effort to rein them in. Otherwise, there is no reason why someone like Stalin should change his stand within an hour.
For now, the people in Nadur village plan to conduct a special ritual (moksha deepam) for the departed souls before the current auspicious Tamil month of Margazhi gets over.
This Fringe Group Was Behind The Rumour Of Mass Conversion Of Dalits To Islam In Tamil Nadu, And Here’s Why It Did What It Did
by M R Subramani - Dec 31, 2019, 2:59 pm
Snapshot
- A fringe outfit, political activists allege, has spread this rumour as it was aggrieved over the continuous detention of their leader.
On 25 December this year, mainstream media in Tamil Nadu reported that 3,000 Dalits would convert to Islam following the state government’s ‘failure’ to take action on an incident in which a wall collapse at Nadur in Coimbatore district left 17 persons dead.
However, enquiries by various organisations and Swarajya reveal that they were mere rumours and the needle of suspicion points to a fringe outfit called Tamil Puligal Katchi (TPK or Tamil Tigers Party) for spreading them.
The TPK and its cadres, political activists in Mettupalayam allege, are the ones who have spread this rumour, aggrieved over the continuous detention of their leader Nagai Thiruvalluvan.
Thiruvalluvan was arrested on 3 December along with 24 persons for attempting to create unrest in Mettupalayam, 40 km from Coimbatore.
They attempted to mislead people on the death of 17 persons in a wall collapse at Nadur village near Mettupalayam.
Political activists in Mettupalayam say though Thiruvalluvan was given bail on 6 December, he was arrested the next day in connection with a stone pelting case at a government transport corporation bus in Dharapuram in Tirupur district.
The stone pelting incident occurred on 2 December and three more persons were arrested for the incident in which two persons were injured and the bus was damaged.
“There are many cases pending against Thiruvalluvan. He is a fit case to be detained under the Goondas Act,” said a political activist in Mettupalayam without identifying himself.
Since Thiruvalluvan has been under detention for nearly a month, the TKP has been arguing that while those responsible for the wall collapse have been let out on bail, its leader is being detained continuously since he belongs to the Scheduled Caste.
“The TKP and its cadres are unable to digest the fact that their leader has not able to get bail and hence, they resorted to spreading rumours,” the activist said.
What exactly is the problem relating to the wall collapse incident ?
Seventeen persons, including 12 women and two children, were killed when the compound wall of a house fell on four houses following heavy rains in the region.
Opposition parties in Tamil Nadu tried to whip up passions over the deaths, alleging that the wall was constructed to prevent the Adi Dravidas — who are notified Scheduled Castes — from entering the area of the upper caste people.
S Sivasubramanian, the owner of the premises whose wall collapsed, belonged to the Other Backward Community (OBC) caste. A textile shop owner, he was arrested on 6 December. (The Madras High Court gave him conditional bail on 20 December. )
Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) president M K Stalin initially termed the deaths as “victims of untouchability wall” before changing his stand within an hour.
A few political organisations such as the Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Kazhagam (VCK and Tamil Nadu Muslim Munnetra Kazhagam (TMMK) tried to politicise the tragedy by repeatedly referring to wall as “theendamai suvar”‘ or wall of caste discrimination.
Swift police action through arrests of those attempting to provoke “social” unrest helped to bring the situation under control by 8 December.
VCK and TMMK demanded that the textile shop owner be charged with provisions of the Scheduled Castes and Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act as the those killed were Adi Dravidas.
Their main contention was the wall was 20 feet high and it was constructed as Sivasubramanian did not want to see the Adi Dravidas living behind his compound.
Those who raised the discrimination charges alleged that a compound wall cannot be over eight or nine feet in height.
They claimed that Nadur residents objected to the height of the wall, including with Revenue Department officials, but they received “casteist slurs” as a response.
According to Krishnaswamy, the brother of Sivasubramaniam, the portion of the wall that collapsed was on a property that was bought 30 years ago.
The wall was there when the property was bought and Sivasubramanian had only carried out maintenance works on it.
Krishnaswamy said the height of the wall was raised by about two feet to around 10 feet, mainly to prevent people jumping into their compound.
Those defending Sivasubramanian say that the wall looked taller than the original height as the compound was situated on a higher altitude in Cooperative Colony and from Nadur, which was adjacent to it, the wall appeared to be a huge one.
Local politicians contended that the allegation of “wall of discrimination” were raised by “outsiders” — those who did not belong to Mettupalayam.
Then, Puthiya Tamizhagam leader K Krishnaswamy, who lives near Coimbatore, termed the controversy as a needless diversion and filing cases under the Scheduled Castes and Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act was not warranted.
In the Lok Sabha, VCK Member of Parliament D Ravikumar claimed the wall was an illegal construction. But Revenue Department officials say that the wall has been constructed on a compound that was duly registered.
Ravikumar, however, conceded that there was no clear-cut definition on what was a “wall of discrimination” and added that the wall should have been constructed in a way that it would not affect people.
Thus, attempts to play up the incident and gain political mileage petered out.
“When media reported that people were going to convert to Islam, some of us visited Nadur. The people there are upset that they are in the news for the wrong reasons. They have no intention or plan to convert as they are all devout Vaishnavites,” the political activist said.
On social media, too, the conversion was denied with videos of the denial making rounds. In the video, the locals are seen saying that no Muslim would be allowed into their village for conversion.
The Indu Makkal Katchi, on its part, visited the village and put out this video to call media reports on conversion as “fake news”.
The reports of religious conversion made rounds for two reasons. One, trouble makers wanted to revive their efforts to create unrest for vested interests. Two, the TKP and its cadre tried to spread the rumour mainly because they were upset over the continuous detention of Thiruvalluvan.
The problem for these vested interests is that the Tamil Nadu police seems to be alert to these manoeuvres of these “trouble creators” and is sparing no effort to rein them in. Otherwise, there is no reason why someone like Stalin should change his stand within an hour.
For now, the people in Nadur village plan to conduct a special ritual (moksha deepam) for the departed souls before the current auspicious Tamil month of Margazhi gets over.
This Fringe Group Was Behind The Rumour Of Mass Conversion Of Dalits To Islam In Tamil Nadu, And Here’s Why It Did What It Did
Nupur J Sharma (@UnSubtleDesi) Tweeted:
ED arrests CC Thampi, through whom not just Robert Vadra but even Rahul Gandhi had a connection with arms dealer Sanjay Bhandari: Read details
My report
ED arrests CC Thampi, through whom not just Robert Vadra but even Rahul Gandhi had a connection with arms dealer Sanjay Bhandari: Read details - Opindia News ( )
Interesting thread!
ED arrests CC Thampi, through whom not just Robert Vadra but even Rahul Gandhi had a connection with arms dealer Sanjay Bhandari: Read details
My report
ED arrests CC Thampi, through whom not just Robert Vadra but even Rahul Gandhi had a connection with arms dealer Sanjay Bhandari: Read details - Opindia News ( )
Interesting thread!
Roop Darak (@iRupND) Tweeted:
Sequence of events Roop Darak on Twitter ( )
Khujliwal ka aakhri gendh par chakka @vstol Jockey
Sequence of events Roop Darak on Twitter ( )
Khujliwal ka aakhri gendh par chakka @vstol Jockey
A bit of a no-brainer this, a democracy of a billion people is always going to be an anarchy.
This is why caa is necessary. .. this is only one of few cases who get to the media..
Oh f**k :
Hindus suffering for being born in majority: Plea in SC challenges constitutionality of Minorities Commission, welfare schemes for religious minorities
Hindus suffering for being born in majority: Plea in SC challenges constitutionality of Minorities Commission, welfare schemes for religious minorities
Supreme Court issues notices to centre on minority schemes
Supreme Court notices to centre on minority schemes - The Economic Times
Hindus suffering for being born in majority: Plea in SC challenges constitutionality of Minorities Commission, welfare schemes for religious minorities
Hindus suffering for being born in majority: Plea in SC challenges constitutionality of Minorities Commission, welfare schemes for religious minorities
Supreme Court issues notices to centre on minority schemes
Supreme Court notices to centre on minority schemes - The Economic Times
George Soros Unveils A Billion Dollar Fund To “Awaken Masses” Against Resurgent ‘Nationalism’ In US, China, India
by Swarajya Staff - Jan 24 2020, 10:33 am
George Soros (Wikipedia/George Soros)
George Soros, the billionaire financier, has unveiled his plan to set up a $1billion fund to build a global network of higher educational institution by targetting students through various awareness and outreach initiate to fight the resurgent nationalism around the world.
Delivering a speech at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Soros identified the rising populism internationally as a huge threat and specifically mounted an attack on US president Donald Trump as well as China’s Xi Jinping, Indian prime minister Narendra Modi — and Brexit.
"Nationalism, far from being reversed, made further headway." Soros thundered.
“I believe that as a long-term strategy our best hope lies in access to quality education, specifically an education that reinforces the autonomy of the individual by cultivating critical thinking and emphasising academic freedom,” he said.
Soros warned about a growing threat from populism and climate change and pledged $1bn towards a new global university network to tackle intolerance. The fund is likely to be operated through the controversial organisation he founded -Open Society Foundations. The organisation is et to nurture partnerships between leading universities, think tanks and cultural institutions across the world.
Soros described U.S President Donald Trump as a "conman and the ultimate narcissist" who had breached the limits of the US constitution. He attacked China's President Xi Jinping claiming that Chinese state under Xi was using technology to establish total control over Chinese life.
"The world would be a better place if they weren't in power," Soros said.
The biggest and "most frightening setback," Soros claimed was in India "where a democratically elected Narendra Modi is creating a Hindu nationalist state, imposing punitive measures on Kashmir, a semi-autonomous Muslim region, and threatening to deprive millions of Muslims of their citizenship."
One of the planet’s wealthiest men, Soros’s past is marred with serious allegations of crimes and misdemeanors including a conviction for insider trading by a French court that levied a fine of $2.3 million.
Soros has also been waging a global camapign State of Israel by funding groups devoted to BDS (boycott, disinvestment, sanctions) against the Jewish State. Soros is estimated to have donated more than $2 million to Adalah, an “independent human rights organization.” Adalah advocates that governments sever diplomatic relations with the only democracy in the Middle East.
George Soros Unveils A Billion Dollar Fund To “Awaken Masses” Against Resurgent ‘Nationalism’ In US, China, India
by Swarajya Staff - Jan 24 2020, 10:33 am
George Soros (Wikipedia/George Soros)
George Soros, the billionaire financier, has unveiled his plan to set up a $1billion fund to build a global network of higher educational institution by targetting students through various awareness and outreach initiate to fight the resurgent nationalism around the world.
Delivering a speech at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Soros identified the rising populism internationally as a huge threat and specifically mounted an attack on US president Donald Trump as well as China’s Xi Jinping, Indian prime minister Narendra Modi — and Brexit.
"Nationalism, far from being reversed, made further headway." Soros thundered.
“I believe that as a long-term strategy our best hope lies in access to quality education, specifically an education that reinforces the autonomy of the individual by cultivating critical thinking and emphasising academic freedom,” he said.
Soros warned about a growing threat from populism and climate change and pledged $1bn towards a new global university network to tackle intolerance. The fund is likely to be operated through the controversial organisation he founded -Open Society Foundations. The organisation is et to nurture partnerships between leading universities, think tanks and cultural institutions across the world.
Soros described U.S President Donald Trump as a "conman and the ultimate narcissist" who had breached the limits of the US constitution. He attacked China's President Xi Jinping claiming that Chinese state under Xi was using technology to establish total control over Chinese life.
"The world would be a better place if they weren't in power," Soros said.
The biggest and "most frightening setback," Soros claimed was in India "where a democratically elected Narendra Modi is creating a Hindu nationalist state, imposing punitive measures on Kashmir, a semi-autonomous Muslim region, and threatening to deprive millions of Muslims of their citizenship."
One of the planet’s wealthiest men, Soros’s past is marred with serious allegations of crimes and misdemeanors including a conviction for insider trading by a French court that levied a fine of $2.3 million.
Soros has also been waging a global camapign State of Israel by funding groups devoted to BDS (boycott, disinvestment, sanctions) against the Jewish State. Soros is estimated to have donated more than $2 million to Adalah, an “independent human rights organization.” Adalah advocates that governments sever diplomatic relations with the only democracy in the Middle East.
George Soros Unveils A Billion Dollar Fund To “Awaken Masses” Against Resurgent ‘Nationalism’ In US, China, India
George Soros Unveils A Billion Dollar Fund To “Awaken Masses” Against Resurgent ‘Nationalism’ In US, China, India
by Swarajya Staff - Jan 24 2020, 10:33 am
George Soros (Wikipedia/George Soros)
George Soros, the billionaire financier, has unveiled his plan to set up a $1billion fund to build a global network of higher educational institution by targetting students through various awareness and outreach initiate to fight the resurgent nationalism around the world.
Delivering a speech at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Soros identified the rising populism internationally as a huge threat and specifically mounted an attack on US president Donald Trump as well as China’s Xi Jinping, Indian prime minister Narendra Modi — and Brexit.
"Nationalism, far from being reversed, made further headway." Soros thundered.
“I believe that as a long-term strategy our best hope lies in access to quality education, specifically an education that reinforces the autonomy of the individual by cultivating critical thinking and emphasising academic freedom,” he said.
Soros warned about a growing threat from populism and climate change and pledged $1bn towards a new global university network to tackle intolerance. The fund is likely to be operated through the controversial organisation he founded -Open Society Foundations. The organisation is et to nurture partnerships between leading universities, think tanks and cultural institutions across the world.
Soros described U.S President Donald Trump as a "conman and the ultimate narcissist" who had breached the limits of the US constitution. He attacked China's President Xi Jinping claiming that Chinese state under Xi was using technology to establish total control over Chinese life.
"The world would be a better place if they weren't in power," Soros said.
The biggest and "most frightening setback," Soros claimed was in India "where a democratically elected Narendra Modi is creating a Hindu nationalist state, imposing punitive measures on Kashmir, a semi-autonomous Muslim region, and threatening to deprive millions of Muslims of their citizenship."
One of the planet’s wealthiest men, Soros’s past is marred with serious allegations of crimes and misdemeanors including a conviction for insider trading by a French court that levied a fine of $2.3 million.
Soros has also been waging a global camapign State of Israel by funding groups devoted to BDS (boycott, disinvestment, sanctions) against the Jewish State. Soros is estimated to have donated more than $2 million to Adalah, an “independent human rights organization.” Adalah advocates that governments sever diplomatic relations with the only democracy in the Middle East.
George Soros Unveils A Billion Dollar Fund To “Awaken Masses” Against Resurgent ‘Nationalism’ In US, China, India
Soros wants to be the Next GOD
Congress party played religious politics after 26/11: leaked U.S. cables
Post 26/11, a section of the Congress leadership was seen playing religious politics after one of its leaders, A. R. Antulay, said that Hindutva forces may have been involved in the Mumbai terror attacks, according to a confidential memo by the then U.S. Ambassador to India, David Mulford, released by WikiLeaks.
“The Congress party, after first distancing itself from the comments (of Antulay, the then Minority Affairs Minister), two days later issued a contradictory statement which implicitly endorsed the conspiracy. During this time, Mr. Antulay’s completely unsubstantiated claims gained support in ... Indian—Muslim community,” Mr. Mulford wrote in his secret cable to the State Department on December 23, 2008.
“Hoping to foster that support for upcoming national elections, the Congress Party cynically pulled back from its original dismissal and lent credence to the conspiracy,” Mr. Mulford wrote.
Regardless of Home Minister P. Chidambaram’s dismissal of Mr. Antulay’s comments, the Indian—Muslim community “will continue to believe they are unfairly targeted by law enforcement and that those who investigate the truth are silenced,” he said in the cable.
“The entire episode demonstrates that the Congress Party will readily stoop to the old caste/religious—based politics if it feels it is in its interest,” Mr. Mulford alleged, according to the cable posted by WikiLeaks on its website on Friday.
The United States has neither confirmed or denied the authenticity of these cables, but said that some 250,000 papers have been stolen from its system and demanded that WikiLeaks — the whistle blower website — return them back to the State Department.
According to WikiLeaks, there are some 1,300 cables from the U.S. embassy in New Delhi. However, only half a dozen of them have been posted by it on its website.
Mr. Mulford said while the killing of three high-level law enforcement officers during the Mumbai attacks, including ATS chief Hemant Karkare, “is a remarkable coincidence, the Congress Party’s initial reaction to Antulay’s outrageous comments was correct.”
“But as support seemed to swell among Muslims for Antulay’s unsubstantiated claims, crass political opportunism swayed the thinking of some Congress Party leaders,” he wrote.
“What’s more, the (Congress) party made the cynical political calculation to lend credence to the conspiracy even after its recent emboldening state elections victories. The party chose to pander to Muslims’ fears, providing impetus for those in the Muslim community who will continue to play up the conspiracy theory,” Mr. Mulford wrote in his cable.
While “cooler heads” eventually prevailed within the Congress leadership, the idea that the party would entertain “such outlandish claims proved once again that many party leaders are still wedded to the old identity politics,” he said.
The 79-year-old Antulay “was probably bewildered to find that his remarks, similar in vein to what he would have routinely made in the past to attack the BJP, created such a furore this time,” Mr. Mulford said.
The cable noted that Mr. Antulay “sparked a political controversy on December 17 with comments insinuating that the killing of Maharashtra Anti-Terror Squad (ATS) Chief Hemant Karkare by the Mumbai terrorists was somehow linked to Karkare’s investigation of (Malegaon) bombings in which radical Hindus are suspected.”
Congress party played religious politics after 26/11: leaked U.S. cables
Post 26/11, a section of the Congress leadership was seen playing religious politics after one of its leaders, A. R. Antulay, said that Hindutva forces may have been involved in the Mumbai terror attacks, according to a confidential memo by the then U.S. Ambassador to India, David Mulford, released by WikiLeaks.
“The Congress party, after first distancing itself from the comments (of Antulay, the then Minority Affairs Minister), two days later issued a contradictory statement which implicitly endorsed the conspiracy. During this time, Mr. Antulay’s completely unsubstantiated claims gained support in ... Indian—Muslim community,” Mr. Mulford wrote in his secret cable to the State Department on December 23, 2008.
“Hoping to foster that support for upcoming national elections, the Congress Party cynically pulled back from its original dismissal and lent credence to the conspiracy,” Mr. Mulford wrote.
Regardless of Home Minister P. Chidambaram’s dismissal of Mr. Antulay’s comments, the Indian—Muslim community “will continue to believe they are unfairly targeted by law enforcement and that those who investigate the truth are silenced,” he said in the cable.
“The entire episode demonstrates that the Congress Party will readily stoop to the old caste/religious—based politics if it feels it is in its interest,” Mr. Mulford alleged, according to the cable posted by WikiLeaks on its website on Friday.
The United States has neither confirmed or denied the authenticity of these cables, but said that some 250,000 papers have been stolen from its system and demanded that WikiLeaks — the whistle blower website — return them back to the State Department.
According to WikiLeaks, there are some 1,300 cables from the U.S. embassy in New Delhi. However, only half a dozen of them have been posted by it on its website.
Mr. Mulford said while the killing of three high-level law enforcement officers during the Mumbai attacks, including ATS chief Hemant Karkare, “is a remarkable coincidence, the Congress Party’s initial reaction to Antulay’s outrageous comments was correct.”
“But as support seemed to swell among Muslims for Antulay’s unsubstantiated claims, crass political opportunism swayed the thinking of some Congress Party leaders,” he wrote.
“What’s more, the (Congress) party made the cynical political calculation to lend credence to the conspiracy even after its recent emboldening state elections victories. The party chose to pander to Muslims’ fears, providing impetus for those in the Muslim community who will continue to play up the conspiracy theory,” Mr. Mulford wrote in his cable.
While “cooler heads” eventually prevailed within the Congress leadership, the idea that the party would entertain “such outlandish claims proved once again that many party leaders are still wedded to the old identity politics,” he said.
The 79-year-old Antulay “was probably bewildered to find that his remarks, similar in vein to what he would have routinely made in the past to attack the BJP, created such a furore this time,” Mr. Mulford said.
The cable noted that Mr. Antulay “sparked a political controversy on December 17 with comments insinuating that the killing of Maharashtra Anti-Terror Squad (ATS) Chief Hemant Karkare by the Mumbai terrorists was somehow linked to Karkare’s investigation of (Malegaon) bombings in which radical Hindus are suspected.”
Congress party played religious politics after 26/11: leaked U.S. cables
