|
'SS'
blast aimed at disrupting BJP leader Diwali function'
Friday November 12, 2010 02:44:24 PM,
IANS
|
|
Panaji:
The Diwali-eve improvised explosive device (IED) blast carried out
by members of Hindu rightwing group Sanatan Sanstha (SS) targeted
a popular festive gathering organised by a BJP memeber outfit, a
youth leader of the party told a court here Friday.
"For the last six-seven years, the
members of the Sanatan Sanstha used to object to our holding the 'Narakasur'
effigy competition and they used to complain to the collector of
South Goa," Rupesh Mahatme, the president of the Goa unit of the
Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha (BJYM), a youth wing of the BJP, told
the court.
The special trial court was instituted to try the 2009 Diwali-eve
blast in Margao, 35 km from here.
Mahatme said 15,000 people had gathered at a Narakasur effigy
competition (a mythological demon slaying event held in Goa on the
lines of Ravan vadh in other parts of the country) organised by
his Solid Party Trust and was attended by Chief Minister Digambar
Kamat, who is the local legislator and Damodar Naik, a BJP
legislator.
The National Investigation Agency (NIA), probing the blast that
killed the two SS members ferrying the bomb to the Narakasur
competition, has said in its chargesheet filed earlier this year
that the main aim was to create fear in the minds of the people
attending the celebrations.
Like the Ram-slaying-Ravan scenes, which are enacted in several
other parts of India on Dussehra, Krishna's slaying of the
mythical Narakasur depicted in these festive events is also meant
to symbolise the victory of good over evil.
According to the NIA chargesheet, the SS members were irked by the
fact that such effigy competitions glorify Narakasur as demon's
effigies are larger and more colourful than the ones of his
slayer.
Mahatme in his statement also said that after repeated complaints
against the Narakasur competitions, the SS was strangely silent on
the issue in 2009.
Thirteen members of the SS have been chargesheeted by the NIA in
the case.
|
|
Home |
Top of the Page |
|
 |
|
Comment on this article |
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
|
|
 News Pick |
|
Two
Pakistani kids killed, stuffed into box
A seven-year-old girl and her brother, 5, were strangled and then
crammed into an iron box used for storing wheat in this Pakistani
city. The police suspect that the girl was raped. Medical
examiners have concluded that the
»
|
 Hajj
2010: Mashair Railway project in service of pilgrims
The Mashair Railway that links the holy sites of Mina, Arafat and
Muzdalifah to Makkah is one of the latest high-tech projects to be
implemented by Saudi Arabia to
» |
|
Four
students guilty of ragging to death Aman Kachru
A
fast track court here Thursday convicted four medical students for
ragging to death their junior Aman Kachru in 2009.
Aman, 19, died March 8 last year after he was ragged by four
seniors - Ajay Verma, Naveen
» |
Eliminate
beggary in humane manner, states told
All states have been asked to develop a data base on the extent of
beggary and to eliminate it rapidly, but in a "humane" manner,
Minister of State for Social Justice and Empowerment D. Napolean
said Thursday. In a
» |
|
British
Council to organise education meet
The British Council will organise a two-day education exhibition
here starting Saturday where students can meet representatives of
various universities in the United Kingdom, an official said
Thursday. "Indian students represent
» |
Parliament adjourned for week over 2G spectrum scam, Raja
The deadlock between the
government and opposition over alleged corruption in 2G spectrum
allocation and IT Minister A. Raja worsened Thursday with both
houses of parliament adjourned for the week without
»
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Quick links