India
Today: Mumbai:
Thursday, June 23, 2016.
Delighted
with the National Investigation Agency's (NIA) clean chit to Sadhvi Pragya
Singh in the 2008 Malegaon bomb blasts case the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh
(RSS) is looking forward to remove the "stain" on another activist
Swami Aseemanand, an accused in the cases of Samjhauta train bomb blast and
Macca Masjid in Hyderabad.
SANGH TO
TAKE LEGAL RECOURSE
A highly
placed RSS functionary told India Today that the organisation was contemplating
to explore all legal angles to secure bail for Aseemanand, whom it believes is
falsely implicated in these cases.
"The NIA
claims that Aseemanand has confessed his role in these cases. The fact is he
has not given any confession. More importantly, he has retracted the statement,
which the NIA calls as a confession, in the court. We are going to challenge
the NIA's case based on the new information we have obtained pertaining to this
case," the RSS functionary said.
ASEEMANAND
ONLY LISTENED TO JOSHI
According to
him, Aseemanand has only admitted that he knew late Sunil Joshi, the alleged
conspirator of these bomb blasts, and he used to contact him on several
occasions. Aseemanand was not involved in planning or execution of any of the
blasts. "A confession is something about admitting one's guilt in a crime.
When Aseemanand was not involved in planning or executing any crime how can his
statement be called as a confession?" the functionary asked.
He claimed
that Aseemanand's only mistake was that he listened to Joshi patiently and did
not reveal to anyone what he conveyed to him. As Joshi has been killed by yet
unidentified people a couple of years ago it is difficult to establish what
transpired between him and Aseemanand.
THE NIA
FAUX PAS
The RSS has
gathered information under the Right to Information (RTI) Act on one prisoner
Kaleem, lodged in Hyderabad prison along with Aseemanand. The NIA had claimed
that Aseemanand had confessed to his involvement in the Macca Masjid blast
because he felt a wrong person Kaleem was being victimised. The NIA had claimed
that they had arrested Kaleem as a suspect in this case and had kept him in
Aseemanand's service. Kaleem reportedly won over Aseemanand with his good
behaviour and honest service that melted the swami's heart to reveal the truth.
"The
record shows that Kaleem was never kept in Aseemanand's service in the Hyderabad
prison. Also, it has been established that he was arrested for cheating and
theft not under terrorism charges. So where the question on Aseemanand's heart
melting for an innocent person arises?" the RSS functionary said.
"We will
take the legal battle to a next level soon. I am hopeful Aseemanand too will
come out clean as Pragya," he said.