A video of hundreds of women donning an orange dupatta and marching with sticks has been doing the rounds on social media. These women can be seen parading on a road, walking with sticks and swords. A band was also a part of this march. A woman could also be seen standing in a jeep. This incident reportedly took place in Thrissur, Kerala.
As has been alleged, this women-led procession was led by the far-right Hindutva group Durga Vahini, the women’s wing of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP), who had organised a military-style parade where women participants marched with batons and swords on the streets. No reports of any action taken by the police have been made available yet.
The video can be viewed here:
It is crucial to note, that in May of 2022, exactly last year, a similar incident had took place in Kerala’s Thiruvananthapuram where around 200 persons had been booked by the police in connection with a rally organised by the Durga Vahini during which swords were allegedly brandished by girls. The procession had undertaken on 22 May in Thiruvananthapuram’s Neyyattinkara. Similar to the present procession, in the procession last year too, girls in the front could be seen carrying swords, which were then followed by several girls carrying long sticks. The complaint in the said case had been registered by the Popular Front of India (PFI), who had stated that the brandishing of swords sent a wrong message and invoked enmity between different communities.
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