RSS defends its leaders, says government misleading people

New Delhi, Nov 22: The Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh (RSS) Saturday defended its senior leaders Mohan Bhagwat and Indresh Kumar, whose names have reportedly cropped up during the Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) probe into the Malegaon bomb blast, and accused the government of misleading people to hide its failures.

RSS was reacting to media reports that said, quoting ATS sources, that Lt Col Prasad Purohit, an accused in the Malegaon blast case, suspected RSS general secretary Bhagwat and national executive member Indresh Kumar of having been bought over by Pakistan's spy agency ISI.

The reports said Purohit, the first serving army officer to be accused of terrorism, allegedly conspired to kill the two RSS leaders for not not doing enough to advance the cause of Hindutva.

Indresh is in charge of the Rashtriya Muslim Manch of RSS.

"Indresh is a senior and dedicated worker of RSS. All allegations against him are false and in bad taste," senior RSS leader Madan Das told reporters in a press conference here while denouncing the allegations.

He also criticised the ATS investigation team for leaking controversial findings of the investigation and said: "It is important that ATS further investigates this.

"If any such information comes to the government, it should take necessary action but the government has made no such move," Das added.

"What we objected to and continue to do so is the campaign that there exists something called Hindu terror vis-a-vis jehadi terror. The purpose of this campaign is to support, if not justify, the actions of jehadi terrorists and hide the failure of the government in combating terrorism.

"We want to alert the government, political parties and the media that playing politics on issues of terrorism would be dangerous for the country's security and integrity," he added.

The ATS has arrested 10 people including two Hindu religious leaders for their alleged role in the Sep 29 blast in Malegaon town of Maharashtra that claimed six lives.