George Iype
What precisely did the Anjuman hope
to gain by
bombing churches?
Investigators offer two explanations: One, the Anjuman
wanted the people to
blame Hindu groups like the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh,
Bajrang Dal and
Vishwa Hindu Parishad for the blasts. It wanted to scare
Christians into believing
that they were no longer safe under the Atal Bihari
Vajpayee government.
The second reason, as put forward by the Karnataka's
Corps of Detectives
that is investigating the sect, is that the blasts were
carried out
because Anjuman founder Siddiqui hated Christians.
CoD officials say though Siddiqui propagated amity,
harmony and
oneness of religions, he had taught his followers to hate
Christians.
The apparent reason was that in 1934, Siddiqui and 18 of
his followers
were jailed by the British government for indulging in
inflammatory
speeches and writings.
According to the CoD, the group was arrested by the
Dharwad police on
the charge that it was endangering peace by preaching a
religion that
promoted communal hatred.
"Siddiqui had then pledged to take revenge on the British
officials --
Christians -- who humiliated him in jail," said a CoD
official, who
quoted from one of the sect's pamphlets.
The investigating agency has now prepared a report on the
Anjuman's hate
campaign against Christians in the last year. The CoD,
however, is
unable to explain why the sect was silent towards
Christians all these
years.