'Put VHP, Bajrang Dal on terror watch'

CPI-M leader Brinda Karat asked the central Govt to immediately put the Bajrang Dal and the VHP on the watch list of organisations indulging in terrorist-like activities.

Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) leader Brinda Karat on Tuesday asked the central government to immediately put the Bajrang Dal and the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) on the watch list of organisations indulging in terrorist-like activities.

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In a letter to Home Minister Shivraj Patil, Brinda said the two Hindu organisations are spreading violence against minority Christians in Orissa, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan.

"There are reports of attempts being made to spread the violence to states such as Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan by these organisations. In addition, their leaders are making the most rabidly communal speeches. These actions seriously undermine national security," Brinda, who is also a member of the CPI-M politburo, said in the letter.

The Catholic Bishops Conference of India (CBCI) has alleged that some 300 activists of the VHP and Bajrang Dal allegedly attacked two Missionaries of Charity sisters from Raipur, in Chhattisgarh, at the Bhilai Power House Station while they were travelling by train to Indore with four orphan babies Sep 5.

The railway police rescued the babies and the sisters from the mob, the CBCI said.

Brinda also alleged that the leaders of VHP and Bajrang Dal were making "the most rabidly communal speeches".

These actions seriously undermine national security, she said.

Citing reports regarding the arrest of the son of a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) legislator and his accomplice in Bhubaneswar, after a bomb they were allegedly making exploded, Brinda said these events highlight the use of violence by the two organisations against the Christian community in Orissa.

Demanding action against the two groups for their alleged role in instigating communal violence in Orissa, a delegation led by Brinda had met President Pratibha Patil Sep 4.