Congress general secretaries Digjvijay Singh (in a media interview) and Rahul Gandhi (in the Wikileaked diplomatic cables) have highlighted the threat of what has come to be known as Hindutva terrorism or saffron terrorism. Rahul Gandhi, “the prime minister in waiting”, has in fact said this variety of terror is more dangerous than the Lashkar-e-Tayyeba (LeT) variety because it instills fears among the minorities.

Against the backdrop of the rise in terrorism of multiple hues the world over and of the so-called Islamic terrorism in India in recent decades, terrorist activities of fringe Hindutva groups have been a reality. This has left the RSS and BJP confused; they have not criticised such activities but have also tried to distance themselves from such elements.

However, in terming ‘saffron terrorism’ as a bigger threat than the LeT, is Rahul making a well thought-out prognosis or merely playing on the minorities fear factor?