Days after the arrest of nine by police in India's Maharashtra state as a "terrorist cell" responsible for the September Malegaon attack [2], the Hindu nationalist Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) announced a campaign for their release. The nine, including Hindu nun Pragya Singh Thakur, is said to be linked to the right-wing Abhinav Bharat. The Congress has also accused the right-opposition BJB of having "direct links" with the blast. (Times of India [3], Nov. 15; NYT [4], Nov. 12; The Hindu [5], Oct. 29)
Violence spread across major towns of northern Bihar state last month in protests against an attack on north Indians by the activists of Raj Thackeray's right-wing Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) in Mumbai. One youth was killed in the Mumbai attack. Trains were torched in Bihar in the angry protests. (Times of India [6], Oct. 27; Hindustan Times [7], Oct. 23)
See our last posts on India [8] and sectarian terror [2].
