The Sanatan Sanstha has been surrounded by controversies several times and the institution has been accused of being associated with bomb blasts in the country. Despite repeated demands to ban the Sanstha, the institution hasn’t been shut down yet. The Central Government has been unresponsive towards the proposal sent to the Home Department by the Maharashtra state government to ban Sanatan Sanstha.
However, Maharashtra ATS had conducted a raid in Nala Sopara and once again the name of the institution has popped up. Now it would be noteworthy to see how the central government responds to the matter.
Following the blasts in Malegaon in 2006 and 2008, Maharashtra ATS arrested the accused. During the investigation, the ATS learnt that Sanatan Sanstha was involved in the blasts. After which, they handed over the report to the State Home Department in 2011 and based on the investigation report, they had proposed a ban on the institution. This proposal was submitted to the Central Home Department in 2012.
The state government had proposed a ban on Sanatan Sanstha under Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA). After examining the report, the Central Home department had questioned the state department and had asked for answers.
However, in 2014, BJP came in power as the ruling party and after that too, the home department did not respond to the proposal by the state government. In 2013, Dr. Narendra Dabholkar was murdered and in 2015, Govind Pansare was assassinated. Subsequently, journalist Gauri Lankesh too was assassinated. It was hinted by the investigating institutions that the Sanstha was allegedly involved in these murders.