Hindu extremists behind blasts: Swami Aseemanand

In a new revelation, Swami Aseemanand, the main accused of 2007 Samjhauta Express blast, has confessed that Hindu extremists were behind several blasts in the country, including in the Samjhauta Express, Ajmer Sharif and Mecca Masjid.

?I know I can be sentenced with the death penalty but I still want to make this confession,? Aseemanand reportedly told the magistrate at a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) court, as reported by Tahelka magazine.

Assemanand said it?s not Muslims, but Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) ?pracharaks? (activists), who planned and executed the bomb blasts at Malegaon in 2006 and 2008, on the Samjhauta Express in 2007, in Ajmer Sharif in 2007 and Mecca Masjid in 2007.

Many Muslim youths were arrested by Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra Police in connection to the blasts.

Assemanad said it was his interaction with one of the ?innocent? Muslim youths in jail that has led to his confession.

?Sir, when I was lodged in Chanchalguda district jail in Hyderabad, one of my co-inmates was Kaleem. During my interaction with Kaleem I learnt that he was previously arrested in the Mecca Masjid bomb blast case and he had to spend about oneand- a-half years in prison,? he said in a 42-page signed statement written in Hindi, published by Tehelka.

?During my stay in jail, Kaleem helped me a lot and used to serve me by bringing water, food, etc for me. I was very moved by Kaleem?s good conduct and my conscience asked me to do prayschit (penance) by making a confessional statement so that real culprits can be punished and no innocent has to suffer.?

Assemanand named RSS leader Indresh Kumar as the one who ?handpicked and financed some RSS pracharaks to carry out terror attacks?.

?Indreshji met me at Shabri Dham (Aseemanand?s ashram in the Dangs district of Gujarat) sometime in 2005,? Aseemanand told the magistrate.

?He was accompanied by many top RSS functionaries. He told me that exploding bombs was not my job and instead told me to focus on the tribal welfare work assigned to me by the RSS. He said he had deputed Sunil Joshi for this job (terror attacks) and he would extend Joshi whatever help was required.?

Aseemanand further said Muslim terrorists attacking Hindu temples in 2002 angered him and he told Hindu extremists that they should answer back.

?The Muslim terrorists started attacking Hindu temples in 2002,? Aseemanand said. ?This caused great concern and anger in me. I used to share my concerns about the growing menace of Islamic terrorism with Bharat Riteshwar of Valsad.?

?In March 2006, Pragya Thakur, Sunil Joshi, Bharat Riteshwar and I decided to give a befitting reply to the Sankatmochan blasts,? Aseemanand told the magistrate.

?I told everybody that bomb ka jawab bomb se dena chahiye, (I told everyone we should answer bombs with bombs),? says Aseemanand. ?At that meeting I realised Joshi and his group were already doing something on the subject,? he said in his confession, as reported by Tehelka.

?After the combined meeting, Joshi, Pragya, Riteshwar and I huddled together for a separate meeting. I suggested that 80 percent of the people of Malegaon were Muslims and we should explode the first bomb in Malegaon itself.

?I also said that during the Partition, the Nizam of Hyderabad had wanted to go with Pakistan so Hyderabad was also a fair target. Then I said that since Hindus also throng the Ajmer Sharif Dargah in large numbers we should also explode a bomb in Ajmer which would deter the Hindus from going there. I also suggested the Aligarh Muslim University as a terror target.?

Aseemanand said the Samjhauta blast was targeted towards Pakistanis.

?Joshi suggested that it was basically Pakistanis who travel on the Samjhauta Express train that runs between India and Pakistan and therefore we should attack the train as well. Joshi took the responsibility of targeting Samjhauta himself and said that the chemicals required for the blasts would be arranged by Dange,? he said.

The Malegaon bombings took place on 8 September 2006 in Malegaon, a town in the Nashik district of Maharashtra.The explosions, which killed at least 37 people and injured over 125 more, took place in a Muslim cemetery, adjacent to a mosque.

The Samjhauta Express bombings took place around midnight on 18 February 2007 on the twice-weekly train service connecting Delhi, India, and Lahore, Pakistan. Of the 68 fatalities, most were Pakistani civilians.

The blast in the shrine of Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti in Ajmer in October 2007 had claimed three lives and injured several others.

The Mecca Masjid blast in May 18, 2007 killed nine people.