Maharashtra may nudge Centre about Sanatan Sanstha ban

MUMBAI: The Maharashtra government has indicated that it would follow up on its old proposal to ban Sanatan Sanstha in light of the arms haul at Nalasopara and the arrest of Vaibhav Raut, who is suspected to be an activist of the right-wing outfit. Meanwhile, at a route march in support at Nalasopara on Friday, Raut was hailed as “Desh Ka Neta” while the ATS was condemned for acting under pressure from the ‘butcher lobby’ that Raut is said to have opposed.

Though MoS for Home Affairs (Rural) Deepak Kesarkar had assured, after the huge stock of arms and explosives were recovered at Nalasopara, that investigating agencies would spare no one, he had refrained from taking any name. However, a senior officer has confirmed that the state is all likely to check with the Centre the status of its old proposal seeking a ban on Sanatan Sanstha.  In 2008 and 2011, the then Congress-led government had sent two proposals to the Centre for banning the right-wing group.
However, the proposal was struck down by the Centre. 

The official said that due to the structure adopted by the Sanatan Sanstha, it would be difficult to ban the outfit.  “They are registered under different names, and registration for every district and city are different. While the original organization Sanatan Bharatiya Sanskruti Sanstha was formed in 1990, it changed name and got registered under several other names at various places in 1999,” the officer said.