A prominent Muslim cleric on Wednesday asked the government to order a high-level inquiry into the activities of the saffron outfits, including the Vishwa Hindu Parishad and Bajrang Dal, accusing them 'of playing a role in the recent terror attacks' in the country.
Syed Ahmed Bukhari, Shahi Imam of Jama Masjid in New Delhi, raised the demand during a meeting he had with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Wednesday morning.
"A high-level inquiry should be conducted into the role of the VHP, the Bajrang Dal and other Hindu communal organisations in the terrorist incidents of Kanpur, Jammu, Orissa, Nanded, Parbhani and Malegaon," he said in a memorandum submitted to the prime minister.
He also demanded setting up of a judicial commission with proper representation of minorities to look into the cases of those arrested from the minority community in various terrorism-related cases prior to judicial proceedings and see whether the cases are liable to be put up or not.
"Muslims are being harassed and arrested in the name of being masterminds in terror acts that occur in the country or for having relations with a banned organisation without any evidence," he told reporters after the meeting.
"We urged the prime minister to look into the matter so that innocents are not targeted. Only he can help us and if he cannot, nobody else can," he said.
