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Syed Firdaus Ashraf in Mumbai
Lieutenant Colonel (retired) Jayant Rao Chitale on Thursday clarified he has formed a 'Hindustan suicide squad' and not a 'Hindu suicide squad' dismissing reports that his outfit has links with the Shiv Sena.
Speaking to rediff.com over telephone from Pune, Lt Col Chitale said, "I have Muslims and Christians also in this suicide squad and to call our squad as Hindu suicide squad would be wrong."
Lt Col Chitale, who calls himself as the dictator of 'Maharashtra Military Foundation', said a person has to register himself in order to be admitted to the suicide squad.
Media reports had said the 'suicide squad' drew its inspiration from the recent call of the Sena chief to form 'Hindu suicide squads' to tackle terrorism in India.
"Ours is a truly secular suicide squad. Every Indian is welcome to join my suicide squad. I don't know why people are giving this a communal touch. Moreover, let me clarify that I am not a member of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad or any other right wing party or organisation," Lt Col Chitale said.
The training session for the suicide squad, which includes the use of lathis and swords, takes place near Vasat Village at Ambernath, an industrial town more than 50 kilometres away from Mumbai.
Lt Col Chitale said a batch of 30 students has passed out from the training camp in the last 15 days.
"I have been requesting the government for the last three years to form this suicide squad," he said. "I have sent letters to the Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, President Abdul Kalam and the army chief about the formation of these suicide squads, but there was no response. So, I started the training programme."
Asked what would his recruits do, he said, "The Pakistanis have disturbed the internal peace in India and my suicide squads will do the same thing in Pakistan."
Interestingly, Lt Col Chitale has been supported by Lt Col (retired) Lt Gen P N Hoon and a few other ex-servicemen belonging to the Shiv Sena.
Lt Gen Hoon, however, told rediff.com that neither the Sena chief nor Uddhav Thackeray are backing this programme. "I totally deny such allegations that Balasaheb or Uddhav have given me permission to start such a programme. We have started this on our own because the country needs such youth to tackle terrorism. I am also stating that this is not a communal set up as portrayed by some people," he said.
"Today, the country is being destroyed by the Inter-Services Intelligence of Pakistan. And we have to do something about it. So, we feel that these suicide squads are the answer for the Pakistanis," he added.
Meanwhile, the Maharashtra government has ordered an inquiry into the issue and asked Lt Col Chitale to clarify his stance.
Speaking to a news agency on the sidelines of a CII seminar on biotechnology in Mumbai, Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh said, "Since many versions about the suicide training camp were received, we have asked for a thorough investigation into it by the police and intelligence."
The police has been asked to submit the report in the next few days, he said, without giving an exact date for the submission of the report.
Thane Police Commissioner S M Shangari said the investigation has already been been initiated into the issue.
With inputs from agencies
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