Sanatan Sanastha must come out more strongly against violence
Blurb:
Not everyone is against the Sanastha and it enjoys some support in the State. Given this support and the lack of clear evidence linking it to the crimes committed, would a ban really help?
==============================
At a meeting held on Sunday at Ramnathi, speaker after speaker demanded a ban on the Sanatan Sanstha. Some demanded police verification of those residing at the ashram at Ramnathi, which also serves as the headquarters of the Sanastha. The meet, organised by the Ramnath Yuwa Sangh, was a well-guarded affair with a large police force in attendance to prevent any untoward incident. The call for a ban follows the arrest of Sameer Gaikwad, a member of the Sanastha in connection with the murder of rationalist Govind Pansare. Gaikwad is still in custody and is being defended by a battery of lawyers who descended on Kolhapur for the purpose. This is the second time that the Sanastha is being drawn into a controversy in Goa. The first was in 2009 when an attempt, by suspected members of the organisation to plant bombs in Margao during the Narkasur procession, went wrong killing one of the accused. Given these two high-profile cases one can easily understand the anger against the Sanastha and the demand for a ban.
Chief Minister Laxmikant Parsekar has gone on record to say that his government cannot ban an organisation merely on the suspicion that few of its members were involved in unlawful activity. "There are lakhs of others in the same organization who are innocent. We must be considerate about them," he said. Parsekar however, added that if the states probing the case report organisational involvement then action would be taken. PWD Minister Sudin Dhavalikar has come out openly in support of the Sanastha saying his wife is a member and his family had been supporting it for years. Clearly, not everyone is against the Sanastha and it enjoys some support in the State.
Given this support and the lack of clear evidence linking it to the crimes committed, would a ban really help? Will all the things that the Sanastha is accused of, go away if a ban is slapped on it? The RSS was banned three times in its history. The first time was after the assassination of Mahatma Gandhi. The second was during the Emergency and the third after the demolition of the Babri Masjid in 1992. On all three occasions the ban was lifted. Bans have a limited shelf-life and organisations will continue to live despite a ban as long as the idea they represent remains alive.
What does the Sanathan Sanastha represent? The organisation was founded in 1990 by Jayant Balaji Athavale with the stated aim of presenting spirituality in a scientific language for seekers. The organisation also seeks an awakening of and unity among the Hindu community. The Sanastha came into disrepute when six of its members were arrested in 2008 for planting bombs outside an auditorium in Thane, Vashi. Two of the six members were convicted for the crime. Then came the 2009 blasts in Goa and the assassination of Pansare. Although a ban might seem like an extreme reaction at this point of time, the Sanastha certainly has some explaining to do. If the accused persons were acting alone is it not strange that all of them sought refuge in the Sanastha? On the other hand the suspect activity of Gaikwad, Ruda Patil and the two convicted members must be weighed with the other religious or social work to examine the true intent behind the organisation.
It would have helped if the organisation had distanced itself from the suspect activities of some its members and come out more more strongly against violence because spiritualism and violence do not mix.
