Bajrang Dal: The militant face of the saffron family?by Rajeev Deshpande (Times of India dt 30.9.2008) Aug 25: Two die in Kanpur when a bomb explodes. It transpires these were Bajrang Dal activists who were making explosives.
Aug-Sept 2008: Spate of attacks on Christians in Orissa and Karnataka. Karnataka unit head Mahendra Kumar arrested. Home ministry says Bajrang Dal is behind the attacks April 2006: Two Bajrang Dal activists die in Nanded while they were making bombs. The same group a suspect in the 2003 Parbhani mosque blasts Jan 1999 : Dal mob led by its local leader, Dara Singh, burnt alive Graham Stains and his two little sons in Orissa The Bajrang Dal is said to have been at the forefront of murderous gangs that killed Muslims and burnt their homes in Gujarat in 2002. On several occasions, Dal activists have acted as moral police, catching unmarried couples on Valentine's Day and forcing them to apply sindoor or tie rakhi against their wishes. The record of Bajrang Dal's lawlessness is long. And now the Dal, the 24-year-old sword-arm of the Hindutva brigade, is in the news again — as almost always, for wrong reasons. A number of political leaders have been demanding its ban. Their argument: the Bajrang Dal, like SIMI, is an extremist organization that are also flirting with terror. In the middle of September, anti-church violence erupted in Mangalore where prayer halls of the evangelist New Life order were attacked. Soon violence enveloped other denominations, and then churches in the new economy city of Bangalore were vandalized. A month earlier similar anti-Christian attacks rocked Orissa and trouble is still simmering there. In the middle of the violence that broke out in Mangalore was the figure of Mahendra Kumar, Bajrang Dal "convener" for the state, who claimed responsibility for some of the attacks, said they were a "spontaneous Hindu upsurge". While the Dal said it was inflamed by New Life's "conversion activities", prayer halls were not the only targets. The Adoration monastery, where nuns live a cloistered life, dedicated to prayer, was not spared either, its windows broken and crucifix vandalized. Saffron groups and Christian organizations have clashed over conversions and re-conversions as they jostle for influence from remote tribal homelands of Rajasthan's Banswara to the north-east. But every now and then, an orgy of violence breaks out. In August, the murder of pro-VHP Swami Laxmanananda Saraswati in Orissa led to fierce clashes between tribal Kandhs and Dalit Panas, which are yet to die down. Strikingly at the forefront of many such acts of violence, are men with saffron headbands who seem to revel in their roles as saffron avengers. Yet, their organization, said to be affiliated to VHP as a "youth wing", remains shadowy. Who, or what, is Bajrang Dal? hinduunity.org, a website dedicated to "promoting and supporting the ideals of Bajrang Dal", outlines the "threat" before Hindu samaj. "Christians have an upper hand with economies under their control, secondly petro-dollars in hands of Muslims and thirdly, from within us, Hindus who falsely believe Hinduism can survive the onslaught in modern times as it has in the past." The web page notes that "In times when Christians have openly taken on the task of harvesting us to Christianity, Muslims with their jihad and the pseudo-secularists, who will stop at nothing...very survival of Hinduism is at risk." Its view of history is reflected in observations that Muslims should have taken "advantage" of the Partition of 1947, and left for other lands. Ever since Bajrang Dal was set up in 1984, ostensibly to protect a VHP programme for "awakening society", the outfit's chain of command has been nebulous. It has had a few national conveners who have attracted notice like Jaibhan Singh Pawaiya, Vinay Katiyar and Surendra Jain, two of whom have been BJP MPs as well. The current convener, Prakash Sharma, is less well known, but VHP claims the organization is not as loosely structured as the impression is. As an organization allied to Sangh Parivar, it has come to be handy for channelling the fury of an under class whose utility as foot soldiers is useful on occasion while allowing BJP to promptly dissociate itself from any outrageous act of violence. The Bajrang Dal and its cadre are like unwashed cousins at a family wedding who everyone pretends are not present at all, but who might have their uses in settling a land dispute. But Bajrang Dal does crash the party every now and again as Karnataka CM B S Yeddyurappa found out, after initial indulgence towards its lumpen mobs. As BJP government hastily moved to arrest Dal workers last week, it did so as in response to political pressure, after initially grumbling about "conversion activities" of church groups. This is because most Parivar leaders feel all church organizations are essentially engaged in "harvesting Hindu souls". There is a failure to appreciate that many church orders are devoted to callings like education. But a senior RSS leader expressed concern over the attacks in Bangalore. "VHP or Bajrang Dal people are not involved in these incidents. But still t hey are happening," he said. Almost any group of discontented young men were rallying under the Bajrang banner, indulging in hooliganism. The RSS would soon be deliberating on the issue. It is unclear whether RSS brass will actually check the Bajrang Dal but even if what the leader says is correct, it only shows that once violence is triggered, it is difficult to turn it off like a switch. And, given the profile that it has acquired, it is not easy to shrug off the Bajrang Dal's actions. The BJP could not wish away Ashok Singhal & Co and VHP remains bitter over being "betrayed" by BJP on the Ram temple. Neither BJP nor RSS have ever tried to squarely face up to the need to define their relations with VHP or Bajrang Dal. Neither has disowned the Dal, even part of it. Would they disown the more obscurantist agenda of the two organizations? BJP has opted for a piece-meal strategy of going along with the view that VHP is a "cultural" organization while looking the other way whenever the Bajrang Dal flexes its muscles. This is fairly typical of the RSS's tactics in describing itself as completely apolitical. The Bajrang Dal is not shy of using strong-arm tactics, though it has not gone much beyond devising crude bombs. These can maim and kill just like more sophisticated devices, but purveyors of saffron angst are more prone to be agitated by local issues. Bajrang Dal is a face of angry, discontented Hindus that middle India finds disconcerting. At a time when identity politics is on an upswing, any Hindutva cause gives these young men a sense of esteem and self-worth. As storm troopers, Bajrang Dal might shore up BJP's political base. But it can't be without a cost. -- Will the all new Indica Vista zip ahead of the Suzuki Swift? Read the expert review on Zigwheels.com http://zigwheels.com/b2cam/reviewsDetails.action?name=Ro11_20080829&path=/INDT/Reviews/Ro11_20080829&page=1&pagecount=9
