Islamic bomber of Bangalore "last icon of Terrorism”
Bangalore (AsiaNews) - Abdul Nasser Madani (pictured) “is the new icon of Indian political terrorism. Although he is an Islamic leader, it would be wrong to see his action as an act of religion: Madani is just a cog in the wheel of this new format of Indian political system. This trend certainly bodes ill for India”,says Syed Mujtaba Ali, journalist and founder of the Contact Group in South Asia, commenting to AsiaNews on reports that Madani is ready to surrender to justice.
Madani - founder and leader of the Peoples Democratic Party - says he, along with an unidentified group of people, is ready to surrender in the coming days. Charges are pending against him for allegedly organizing the attacks in Bangalore on 25 July 2008 - in which a woman lost her life - and those of Coimbatore in 1998, which killed 58 people.
Ashok Singhal, president of Vishva Hindu Parishad (a Hindu extremist group) has criticized the slowness of the arrest: "those not allowing him to be arrested. What do they want? They want terrorism to perpetrate”. According Mujtaba, however, the issue is more complex, “Madani is the, new icon of extremist political leader. In past Madani was charged for inflammatory speeches and suspected to have organized terrorist activities but Indian courts have exonerated him of many such charges".
His popularity, the journalist explains, "comes from being a Muslim, which appears as a popular hero and a saviour. He leads his party with the stated aim of creating an alliance between Dalits (the outcaste Indian), Muslims and members of lower castes. In the 2009 elections he was even allied with the left, but with few results.
His figure, he stresses, "is unique and follows the trail of the notorious radical extremist leaders of Hinduism. Like them, he denies the accusations of terrorism but acts in an exaggerated way, in public and private sectors. The his story represents the down side of the Indian politics that draws its strength from the streets cashing upon the negative sentiments. It also tells the story of the mobilization of the masses based on hate and radicalizing the society".
However, he concludes, "It would be wrong to see the Madani episode in religious terms. In fact Madani is just a cog in the wheel of this new format of Indian political system. Until and unless this whole tribe is banished from the Indian political scene, there is every chance that many such characters may loom large in the country. This trend certainly bodes ill for India." (NC)
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10/01/2020 09:52
