A former full-time pracharak of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh has written to Union Home Minister Amit Shah and Karnataka Home Minister Priyank Kharge, demanding that the RSS, Vishva Hindu Parishad, and Bajrang Dal be officially declared terrorist organisations. In his explosive letter sent earlier this month, Yashwant Sahdev Shinde has also called for the arrest and investigation of RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat, RSS leader Indresh Kumar, and VHP general secretary Milind Parande for their alleged roles in a series of bomb blasts that rocked different parts of India in the 2000s.
A 25-Year Journey Ends in Whistleblowing
Shinde served as a full-time RSS worker from 1990 before quitting the organisation. His exit, he claims, came after he was asked to “join a bomb preparation and training team.” In August 2022, he filed a sworn affidavit before a special CBI court in Nanded, Maharashtra, where he made detailed allegations about participating in meetings where RSS and VHP members, including Parande, allegedly planned a coordinated campaign of bomb blasts across the country.
In the affidavit, Shinde claimed he was given bomb-making training under Parande’s guidance in 2003, alongside approximately 20 other individuals. The explosive testimony was part of the trial concerning the April 2006 Nanded blast, where an explosion at the home of an alleged RSS worker killed his son and another man, reportedly a VHP activist. The CBI itself described the incident as a “bomb assembly operation,” possibly intended for a mosque in Aurangabad.
Allegations of a Political Conspiracy
Speaking at various forums, including a congressional briefing in Washington co-organized by multiple human rights organisations, Shinde has painted a picture of a calculated conspiracy. He alleged that Parande had taken a “contract from the BJP” to carry out bombings for political and electoral gain during the 2004 general elections. “Had I agreed, there would have been hundreds of bombings across India,” Shinde claimed, citing his extensive network across the country.
He alleged that bombings were still carried out in Jalna, Purna, and Parbhani between 2003 and 2004, targeting mosques. The attacks, he claimed, were designed to be blamed on Muslims to create communal polarisation. Shinde also described attending a three-to-four-day bomb-making workshop in Pune, allegedly hosted by Rakesh Dhawde, who later became a key accused in the 2008 Malegaon blast case before being acquitted. He identified the trainer as a man named Mithun Chakraborty, whose real name, he claimed, was Ravi Dev, then a coordinator of the Bajrang Dal.
“The masterminds of these bombings were Milind Parande and others from the RSS and BJP. But the investigative agencies never arrested them; they only arrested the foot soldiers,” Shinde has repeatedly asserted.
Acquittals and Unanswered Questions
Despite the gravity of the allegations, all cases related to these blasts, including the Nanded, Malegaon, and Samjhauta Express bombings, eventually ended in acquittals under the current BJP-led government. The Nanded trial court acquitted all nine surviving accused in January 2025. When that verdict was delivered, the VHP called it a “tight slap” on the face of the Congress party.
Neither the RSS nor the VHP has responded to Shinde’s allegations in the four years since he first made them public. When asked in April 2026 about comparisons to white supremacist groups, RSS general secretary Dattatreya Hosabale stated that the organisation was nothing like the Ku Klux Klan and often gets “mischaracterised” as a Hindu supremacist or anti-Muslim body.
Renewed Demands for Action
Shinde’s latest letter to Priyank Kharge and Amit Shah reiterates his earlier court claims and demands immediate action. In recent months, Kharge has challenged the RSS through an open letter to Mohan Bhagwat, demanding detailed disclosures of the organisation’s legal status, finances, and tax compliance. Shinde’s letter also makes allegations linking Indresh Kumar to the Ajmer Sharif dargah blast and names former BJP MP Pragya Singh Thakur and Colonel Prasad Purohit in connection with the Malegaon case, though both were eventually acquitted.
