New Delhi: The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh today rejected a media report about Swami Aseemanand having named RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat as part of the conspiracy to carry out Samjhauta Express and Mecca Masjid blasts, as rubbish and baseless, and pointed out that Aseemanand had himself denied he ever made any such confession.
On the other end of the spectrum, Congress, Left, JD(U), RJD and BSP leaders today demanded a thorough probe into the role of RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat in the conspiracy behind Samjhauta Express and Mecca Masjid blasts.
A Delhi-based magazine Caravan has published a report by its correspondent Leena Gita Reghunath, who has claimed that Aseemanand himself told her inside Ambala Central Jail that the top RSS leadership was indeed aware of the conspiracy to target a particular community through bomb blasts.
The report states, "he (Aseemanand) told me that his terrorist acts were sanctioned by the highest levels of the RSS - all the way up to Mohan Bhagwat, the current RSS chief, who was the organisation's general secretary at the time. Aseemanand told me that Bhagwat said of the viiolence, 'It's very important that it be done. But you should not link it to the Sangh.'"
The report further states: "Aseemanand told me about a meeting that allegedly took place, in July 2005. After an RSS conclave in Surat, senior Sangh leaders including Bhagwat and Indresh Kumar, who is now on the organisation's powerful seven-member national executive council, travelled to a temple in the Dangs, Gujarat, where Aseemanand was living - a two-hour drive.
"In a tent pitched by a river several kilometres away from the temple, Bhagwat and Kumar met with Aseemanand and his accomplice Sunil Joshi.
"Joshi informed Bhagwat of a plan to bomb several Muslim targets around India. According to Aseeemanand, both RSS leaders approved and Bhagwat told him, 'You can work on this with Sunil. We will not be involved, but if you are doing this,you can consider us to be with you."
Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde today said "the government will go through this report. If he (Aseemanand) has revealed this, it must be true".
RSS spokesperson Ram Madhav rubbished the media report questioning its authenticity and timing.
Ram Madhav said: "We condemn this attempt to malign teh RSS. We smell a political conspiracy behind this. Aseemanandji has inside and outside the court denied that he has made any such statement or confession".
BJP leader Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi alleged that the Congress always resorted to such cheap tricks before the elections. "The RSS has made it clear that it had no role in the blasts conspiracy".
On the other hand, Minister of state for Parliamentary Affairs Rajiv Shukla said the Home Ministry should probe this whether the statement is correct or not.
Lok Janshakti Party leader ramvilas Paswan, CPI(M) leader Sitaram Yechury, JD(U) leader K C Tyagi, CPI leader Gurudas Dasgupta, RJD leader Ramkripal Yadav and BSP supremo Mayawati have demanded a thorough probe into the statement made by Swami Aseemanand.
