Bull's Eye

On August 26, it said: "We still don't know who was responsible for it (Godhra). Circumstantial evidence suggests the possibility of foreign-funded saboteurs having infiltrated the Sangh parivar to act as enemies of the state."

On November 1, Narendra Modi spoke to The Indian Express. He said, "Pakistan would try to create communal trouble in the country. It would push its own agenda on the one hand and spoil the image of India on the other." In the report, he "cited the attacks on churches in Goa and Bangalore as an example and alleged that these were masterminded by Pakistani agents. They distributed provocative Hindu pamphlets so these could be attributed to the Hindus." This raises questions.

Were those alleged Pakistani agents, who attacked the churches, outsiders? Or were they infiltrators who had become members of the vhp? If they were outsiders why didn't VHP leaders denounce them? Instead, they sought to justify the attacks by citing provocation offered by Christians. If they were Pakistani infiltrators, how high up in the ladder has the VHP been infiltrated?

Does the Sangh parivar have any means of checking the sources of funds offered to the VHP by NRIs abroad? Unknown to the public, L.K. Advani cancelled his recent trip to America due to a forewarning that one of his NRI hosts, organising a public function there, had underworld links.

Communally sensitive areas were less affected by the Gujarat riots than affluent areas. Business interests, and a chance to loot, encouraged the vhp rioters. Now the same vhp will fight the polls in Gujarat. VHP boss Ashok Singhal described Gujarat as a laboratory for the rest of India. vhp elements are spread throughout Gujarat. They will campaign for Modi. The prime minister has blundered into a Catch-22 situation. If Modi wins, it will be a victory for the VHP. If he loses, it will be a defeat for the BJP.

They pull the strings,
We dance and sing,
Neither I nor you,
Know what we do!