While Swami Asimanand and six others have been acquitted, three have been held guilty for the terror attack on the famous shrine.
They include--Devendra Gupta, Bhavesh Patel and Sunil Joshi. This is not the first case in which right-wing extremists have been sentenced for bomb blasts or terrorism.
But it is important in the sense that those accused were not mere RSS members but its functionaries--holding posts of pracharaks. Devendra Gupta was RSS pracharak. Also, Sunil Joshi who died many year ago, was a Sanch pracharak.
In the past, when Sangh members were arrested or convicted, it was mentioned that RSS didn't keep record of its members and anyone was free to come or go. Sangh maintained that it was not responsible for activities of those persons.
But Gupta and Joshi held posts in the RSS. Bhavesh Patel also had right-wing links. They may have been removed from the posts later, but they had been given duties for years to work in different states as pracharaks.
Hence, this case is important as far as Hindutva terror or right-wing terrorism in the country are concerned. Ajmer Dargah is among the most revered shrines in Asia, and is frequented by both Hindus and Muslims.
Apart from Ajmer Dargah blast, the right-wing terror attacks were made at Mecca Masjid in Hyderabad, on Samjhauta Express train, in Modasa town and twice in Malegaon in Maharashtra. There were some other minor attacks too.
