The jacobin.com article details how the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), a large Hindu nationalist paramilitary group and ideological parent of India’s ruling BJP, has been implicated in numerous terrorist attacks targeting Muslims in India between 2003 and 2008. Despite evidence linking RSS members to these attacks, including a whistleblower’s affidavit, many accused have been acquitted or granted bail, highlighting a lack of justice for victims. The article further argues that the BJP’s close ties to the RSS have allowed the group to escape consequences, aided by political pressure and biased media coverage. This alleged impunity has emboldened the RSS and reinforced Hindu nationalist sentiment. The article calls for increased pressure on the Indian judiciary and international actors to hold those responsible accountable.
On September 29, 2008, bomb blasts struck a bustling marketplace in Malegaon, Maharashtra, where hundreds of Muslims were gathering to break their Ramadan fast just before Eid al-Fitr. The attack killed six people and injured 101 others.
The bombs were planted by individuals linked to the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), India’s oldest and largest Hindu-supremacist paramilitary group and the ideological backbone of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Some perpetrators were RSS members, while others belonged to affiliate groups. This clear act of domestic terrorism remains unresolved after 16 years. The trial drags on, with several accused granted bail or acquitted.
The Malegaon attack was not an isolated incident. Between 2003 and 2008, the RSS orchestrated at least nine bombings targeting Muslim communities. These attacks, focused on mosques, shrines, and trains across Maharashtra, Telangana, Haryana, and Rajasthan, claimed nearly 150 lives. For instance, bombs exploded in Parbhani city’s mosque in November 2003, killing one and injuring 34. Malegaon itself had already suffered a bombing in 2006, when explosions near a mosque during Shab-e-Barat prayers killed 37.
Another notable attack occurred in February 2007, targeting the Samjhauta Express train between India and Pakistan, which killed 68 people, mostly Pakistanis. Later that year, an attack during Ramadan at the Ajmer Dargah shrine killed three and injured 17.
The RSS has long been described as a violent paramilitary organization, infamous for its role in riots, lynchings, mosque demolitions, and even the assassination of Mahatma Gandhi. In the early 2000s, it also acted as a terrorist group to aid the BJP’s rise, facing no lasting repercussions. Instead, its violence has been rewarded by segments of India’s radicalized Hindu-nationalist electorate.
The RSS’s close ties to the BJP are no secret. The RSS’s founders championed Hindutva, an ideology advocating for a Hindu ethnostate where minorities, especially Muslims, are marginalized. The BJP emerged from this ideology, tracing its roots to Syama Prasad Mukherjee, an RSS member who founded the BJP’s predecessor in 1951. By 2020, about one in five BJP ministers were affiliated with the RSS, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who joined the organization at eight years old.
Unsurprisingly, the RSS has used terrorism to deepen divisions between Hindus and Muslims. In 2022, a former RSS worker, Yashwant Shinde, filed an affidavit accusing the organization of orchestrating terror attacks between 2003 and 2008 to boost the BJP’s election prospects. Shinde revealed that RSS leaders organized bomb-making workshops and planned widespread bombings, not just to kill Muslims but to frame them for the attacks.
This claim aligns with evidence from past investigations. In 2006, after two RSS-linked individuals died in a bomb-making accident in Nanded, police found fake Muslim attire and plans to target a mosque. Such tactics aimed to solidify stereotypes of Muslims as terrorists, while BJP leaders portrayed themselves as protectors of Hindus.
The National Investigation Agency (NIA) corroborated parts of this narrative during the Malegaon bombings trial, stating that the attacks were intended to “create communal rift” between Hindus and Muslims. Shinde’s affidavit explicitly states that the RSS blamed Muslims for bombings to benefit the BJP, helping secure its 2014 electoral victory.
Shinde also linked these attacks to BJP politician Pragya Thakur, accused in the 2008 Malegaon bombing. Thakur, a Hindu-supremacist ascetic, described Gandhi’s assassin as a patriot and referred to minorities as “monsters of darkness.” Despite standing trial for terrorism, she joined the BJP and won a parliamentary seat in 2019, becoming the first terrorism-accused individual backed by a major party. Her candidacy resonated with the BJP’s most radical supporters, securing over 860,000 votes.
In 2023, a court dismissed Shinde’s request to testify in the Nanded bombing case, citing his delayed disclosure. However, his claims mirror earlier investigations. Meanwhile, the BJP has shielded individuals accused of terrorism, from endorsing Pragya Thakur to pressuring the judiciary to acquit Hindu-supremacist leaders. In 2015, a federal prosecutor reported being told to “go soft” on Thakur and others. Subsequently, those accused in bombings like Parbhani and Samjhauta were acquitted.
For victims and their families, justice remains elusive. The RSS’s growing influence continues to erode Indian democracy while strengthening the BJP’s grip on power.
India’s judiciary and opposition parties must hold the RSS and BJP accountable. As the BJP faces political challenges, the opposition should push for reopening terror cases and sanctioning organizations that used terrorism to gain power. International allies, including the U.S., must also demand accountability. Instead of lauding Modi, leaders like Joe Biden should use diplomatic leverage to ensure those responsible for acts of terror face justice.
