Swords | SabrangIndia

VHP leader promises free ‘licenses’ swords, knives and sticks after ‘training’

Tue, 06 Dec 2022 09:03:59 +0000

Image courtesy: Abhisek Saha / The Hindu

New Delhi: An office bearer of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad in Varanasi recently announced that along with kung fu training, “licensed” swords, knives and sticks will be distributed for free, The Hindu has reported.

According to the newspaper report, this VHP training is being imparted at Varanasi’s Bal Upasana Kendra, near Lohiyanagar, in Sarnath area.

In a Facebook post, which has since been deleted, Sanjay Hindu Sinha, who claims to be the VHP’s Kashi Mahanagar joint-general secretary, had reportedly said:

“Free of cost training of lathi (sticks) for 15-days, knives for one month, swords for one month and kung fu for three months, after which licence of swords with sticks and knives will be given for free. Training place is Bal Upasana Kendra located in Lohia Nagar, Ashapur. Limited seats, register today, membership fee, Rs 100.”

According to another newspaper, Dainik Bhaskar, the post was shared on Saturday, December 3. It was shared multiple times on social media. According to Hindu, the Varanasi police has stated that is likely to initiate an inquiry into the matter.

VHP’s Kashi metropolitan president Kanhaiya Singh told Dainik Bhaskar that Sinha made this announcement in his personal capacity, and the organisation or any workers have nothing to do with it.

Swords and blades over nine inches in length and which are not kitchen appliances require a licence under the Arms Act as Sabrangindia has repeatedly pointed out. Under the Arms Act, carrying weapons without a licence is punishable with a jail term and a fine.

Under Rule 8 of the Arms Act Rules, 2016, a person holding a licence for firearms or any other arms, which includes swords and blades with sharp edges, is barred from “resorting to the brandishing of firearms in a public place nor shall he carry or discharge a firearm in a built-up area or any public place on the occasion of marriage, public assembly, fair, procession or any public event.”

Reuters had reported how, since 2016, arms trainins in Varanasi have been regularly taking place.

Members of Durga Vahini, the women’s wing of hardline Vishwa Hindu Parishad, show their self-defense skills with firearms at the concluding ceremony of a weeklong women’s training camp on the outskirts of Ahmedabad, India, May 21, 2016.

Several organisations affiliated to the Hindutva worldview, such as the Durga Vahini, VHP, and the Bajrang Dal are well known to offer arms training to their volunteers. In May 2022, Aryancode Police of Kerala’s Thiruvananthapuram registered a case against 200 women from Vishwa Hindu Parishad’s women’s wing, Durga Vahini for marching with weapons including swords in Keezharoor in Kerala.

“We have registered a case against 200 persons, but not named anyone. The case was registered with regard to disturbing public tranquillity, under Sections 143 (unlawful assembly), 144 (joining unlawful assembly with weapon), 147 (rioting), 149 (if an offence be committed by any member of an unlawful assembly, every other member of such assembly shall be guilty of the offence) and 153 (provoking with intent to cause riot) of the Indian Penal Code. Besides, they were also booked under Section 25 of the Arms Act,” a police officer had then told The Indian Express.

For instance, Durga Vahini, the women’s wing of the VHP, had in 2018 organised a camp in Agra where women were trained how to fire a rifle and other weapons in the name of self-defence.

The organisation, VHP, known for its aggressive stance on intra-community issues, had justified the arms training as ‘physical exercise’, Financial Express had reported. In May this year, at least 200 persons were booked for brandishing swords during a Durga Vahini rally in Kerala’s Thiruvananthapuram.

Five years back, in 2017, the Congress had alleged that arms training was being provided to the Bajrang Dal and VHP volunteers in Assam to “terrorise”, Hindustan Times had reported. It had demanded action against those “practising this without a valid licence”.

West Bengal Mamata Banerjee had also hit out at the VHP for openly giving arms to its cadres, saying that right-wing groups had tried to do the same in Coochbehar district, but the state government didn’t allow such exercises.

In 2019, around 250 VHP functionaries, including the organisation’s local president, were booked for allegedly brandishing air guns and swords during a procession in Pune’s Pimpri Chinchwad area.

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Hindu Sena leader offers licensed swords for sale on Twitter

Fri, 25 Nov 2022 09:47:20 +0000

Image: Video Screengrab

A video has surfaced on social media of a so-called head of Hindu Sena propagating the sale of swords. In the video he can be seen holding the sword and offering it for sale with free delivery. He claims that he is making these swords under a license and the selling price is Rs. 1,250. He also states that the swords have a guarantee of 30 years and have been forged from railway tracks! He further says that minimum 5 swords need to be bought at a time. He also gives his contact number and claims that the Home Ministry and the Prime Minister’s Office have been made aware of the sale of these swords.

The brazen dissemination of such illegal acts via social media by such Hindutva organizations, which have proliferated across the nation, is terrifying. Because the local police do not take any real action against them, they do not have to worry about being caught by the police. It’s possible that they are selling these swords to young people and other “Sanatani Hindus” who share their beliefs in the local area.

Under the Arms Act, the definition of “arms” includes “articles of any description designed or adapted as weapons for offence or defence, and includes firearms, sharp edged and other deadly weapons, and parts of, and machinery for manufacturing, arms”

Under section 5 of the Arms Act, it is prohibited to offer arms for sale, unless he holds a license and the punishment for the same is imprisonment of up to 7 years. Under section 20, an police officer or any other public servant or any person employed or working upon a railway, aircraft, vessel, vehicle can arrest without warrant any person found carrying or conveying any arms under suspicious circumstance. Under section 22, the District Magistrate is empowered to issue orders for search and seizure if he/she has reason to believe that any person residing within the local limits as in his possession any arms or ammunition for any unlawful purpose or such person cannot be left in the possession of any arms or ammunition without danger to the public peace or safety.

Under section 25(3) whoever sells or transfers arms without informing the district magistrate or the police officer in charge of nearest police station shall be punishable with imprisonment up to 6 months.

In the history of internal communal disturbances in various parts of the country, violence by mobs has seen use of such swords and other deadly weapons. During the Jahangirpuri violence in Delhi, early this year, men were seen brandishing swords, guns and other weapons. Under Rule 8 of the Arms Act Rules 2016, a person holding a license for firearms or any other arms, which includes swords and blades with sharp edges, is barred from “resorting to the brandishing of firearms in a public place nor shall he carry or discharge a firearm in a built-up area or any public place on the occasion of marriage, public assembly, fair, procession or any public event.” Swords and blades over nine inches in length, which are not kitchen appliances, also require a license under the Arms Act.

This is not the first instance of swords being brandished or of swords being propagated by hard-line Hindutva followers. In Belagavi, Karnataka, during Dussehra celebrations, Bajrang Dal workers carried swords during a procession.

Swords drawn, Bajrang Dal workers dance on Belagavi road. Part of Dasara celebrations, the outfit claims. The gathering is being probed by district police. ⁦@TheQuint⁩ pic.twitter.com/K0O9eIWZal

— Nikhila Henry (@NikhilaHenry) October 18, 2021

Members of extremist Hindutva groups in Karnataka’s Mangalore district organised a “shastra pooja” event, on the occasion of Dussehra, at the local office of Vishva Hindu Parishad. With trishuls in their hand, they vowed to protect Hindus from so-called love jihad, land jihad and cow slaughter, reported Muslim Mirror.

In April, Antarashtriya Hindu Parishad organised an event in Gujarat where they distributed thousands of swords and tridents to the people. It was reported that 5,100 people were administered an “oath” where they promised to “protect Hindu religion” and were then armed with tridents.

In 2016, in Uttar Pradesh the Bajrang Dal started training its cadres in the use of rifles, swords and lathis ostensibly to ‘protect Hindus from non-brothers’. Camps were organised in Ayodhya and other areas of Uttar Pradesh which was to have Assembly elections in 2017.

In November 2021 swords were reportedly being sent to Hindutva groups by one Rajeev Brahmarshi, an aspiring Hindutva mob leader, who announced on his Facebook page that “Weapons will reach every corner of #Hindustan”. As he has had no police action against him, he continues to do so even now. In March 2022 he said “I will give a sword to every youth who will be present in Shri Ram Navami. This time I will bring 5000 swords instead of 3000.”

A fact finding committee of Centre for Study of Society and Secularism visited Hirhi village (Lohardagga district) of Jharkhand, they found that swords were used during the Ram Navami procession and the violence that ensued thereafter saw these swords being used to attack many innocents. Mujahim Ansari (70) told the team that he was preparing to break his fast and he followed the procession as they were proceeding towards the Mosque. There was a melee and he was suddenly attacked with sword. They aimed at his neck but he tried to block the attack with his hand and took the blow on his left palm. Another victim, Mobarak Ansari was attacked with a sword on his way home. Aman Ansari (about 45 years old), handicapped with one leg was attacked by a mob, and he suffered severe sword injuries on his head, face and all over his body died on the spot.

Needless to say, propagation of sale of a deadly weapon like a sword is a bid to militarise Hindus in “self-defence” and this no longer is symbolic for any religious purposes, but has been legitimately used as a weapon to attack people from minority community. It is not just a threat to the society but also the values we uphold as a democracy.

Perversion of Ram Navmi procession is the latest tool of provocation & violence: Jharkand

Khargone violence: Administration a mute spectator, says CPI-RJD investigating team

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Carry swords to protect cows: Sadhvi Saraswati

Mon, 13 Dec 2021 12:14:55 +0000

Image Courtesy:pragnews.com

Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) leader Sadhvi Saraswati has once again made it to the news by asking Hindus to “buy swords and keep them at home to protect cows.” According to her, if people can buy phones worth a lakh, they can also buy swords “to protect cows from those who slaughter them.”

Her words seem to be a call to violence against a minority community. Saraswati was speaking at the Hindu Sangama programme organised by the VHP and Bajrang Dal at the Karkala Gandhi Maidan on Sunday, December 12. According to local news reports Saraswati said, “Across the world ‘Gau Matha’ (mother cow) is respected, but in Karnataka, the cow is killed for meat. Such slaughterers have no right to live in this country. Cows are being stolen from the cowsheds of Hindus showing arms. We all should carry swords to save the Gau Matha.”

Controversial statement by Vishwa Hindu Parishad leader Sadhvi Saraswati in Karkala :Buy swords & keep them at home to protect cows.
Says when people can buy phones worth a lakh they definitely can buy swords & keep it at homes to protect cows from those who slaughter them. pic.twitter.com/twQLAayYHL

— Deepak Bopanna (@dpkBopanna) December 13, 2021

She seems to have rehashed her 2018 script, when she had reportedly said, “Love jihadis and cow slaughterers of Kerala should have their throats slit”. According to a 2018 report by New Indian Express, Saraswati, who is also the president of Sanatan Dharma Prachar Seva Samiti, was addressing audiences at the Virat Hindu Convention, organised by the VHP and the Bajrang Dal at Badiadka.

Saraswati’s vitriolic speech had then called on Hindus to take up arms and “start a revolution if the country and the religion had to move forward.” Then too she had used the ‘expensive phone’ analogy and reportedly said, “If you can spend Rs 1 lakh and Rs 50,000 on phones, you should also spend Rs 1,000 on a sword and keep it at home.”

Fast forward to Karkala in Udupi, Karnataka, December 2021. Saraswati has decided to incite possible violence the community by using the “sacred mother cow” as a focal point. She claimed, as reported by the news portal Mangalorean.com, “Cows are being stolen from the cowsheds of Hindus showing arms. We all should carry swords to save the Gau Matha,” adding, “Some anti-nationalists are praising Tippu Sultan in Karnataka. We should protest against them. Government should bring strict laws against Cow slaughter, Conversion and Love Jihad. Bhagavad Geeta says that every soul is the child of God and every life is divine. Bharat Matha is our land. We should fight against love Jihad and put an end to cow slaughter.”

Recently, Rajeev Brahmarshi, a man aspiring to be a Hindutva leader had announced on his Facebook page, “Weapons will reach every corner of #Hindustan.” He claimed he had started the supply in November for Begaluru. A “Public Figure”, Brahmarshi’s page has over 62,000 followers. “I have started sending weapons to every house of my Hindu brothers in every corner of the whole of India. There is a weapon in the hands of my deities, keep weapons in the temples,” he had claimed.

On Monday December 13, Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai announced that the Bharatiya Janata party (BJP) government will bring laws “that are good for the people and in the larger interest of society,” adding that “every law will have pros and cons and there will be discussions. But, what is good for the people would be made as a law. We are ready to discuss the new law in the session.”

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Remembering Another Rama on Ram Navami

Fri, 07 Apr 2017 06:09:03 +0000

“Rama lives in your heart, not on cardboard or in some building. And a prayer – or a song of love – does not need loudspeakers.”

Image Courtesy: IndusLadies

Several groups associated with the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) are holding the “largest ever demonstration in Bengal” over a week till April 11th to mark Ram Navami. The rallies will be “fully armed”, said RSS sources to the Hindu on the 5th of April. The news item continues: “In the districts,” the news item continues, “they will be carrying swords, tridents as well as bows and arrows.”

This ominous use of a martial Rama in a public rally brings another time, and another Rama, to mind.

After the demolition of the Babri Masjid in 1992, several writers were invited to speak to school children about what had happened. Many teachers told us that their students were puzzled and disturbed by what they had heard on television, in their homes and their neighbourhood. In response, Shama Futehally and I got together with other writers to retell, for children, what we called “the jigsaw puzzle that is India”.

I decided to write a story about the many Ramas we know. The Hindutva brigade sees only some faces of Rama. They only talk about Rama as a god they have exclusive access to, or as a warrior bearing weapons, or as a stern husband or king laying down the rules. In effect, they miss out on the many dimensions, the richness, of the men and women who people our epics.

Remembering a story of Rama as, above all, a compassionate man, I decided that this was the face we needed to see once more, so we could insist that no one’s story is complete. Nor does it have a monopoly. Our cultural legacies have meaning for us only if we tell and re-tell multiple stories of heroic figures, whether mythical, legendary or historical.

Rishab’s Rama

Rishab pushed open the door of his house and ran in. His bag flew from his back on to a nail on the wall.

“First time!” he shouted gleefully. He had been practising for months, and now the bag had flown to its right place almost on its own, as if it had a pair of wings.

“Is that you, Rishab?” called his grandmother, coming in from the kitchen. Rishab grinned to himself. His grandmother asked this question every single day. The running footsteps and the bag’s slap against the wall told her who it was, but still their afternoons together always began with this question.

Later, after they had eaten and she had washed the dishes, they lay down side by side.

Sometimes, when Rishab thought about which part of the day he liked best, he found it difficult to make up his mind. He loved the early morning when he woke up to the sound of his grandmother singing under her breath, as she picked flowers in the muddy little patch behind the house. Or the evening, when his mother got home from work, then his father.
But the afternoons were, he decided, the most peaceful. His grandmother and he would lie side by side, the sun streaming in through the window into the quiet room. Or she would tell him stories, stories different from the kind he read, or heard in school.

Some days, she would sing him one of the hundreds and hundreds of songs she knew. She had a soft, trembling voice, but she knew what every word meant. Rishab could tell, from the way she sang, that she believed in the song. He could see how much she loved it.

Sometimes she would sing a story-song; a story from the Ramayana or the Mahabharata.

She told Rishab once, “Rama is called karuna-samudra. Do you know what that means?”

Rishab shook his head.

“Karuna is like pity,” she said. “The gentle, sorry feeling you have when you see something that needs your kindness. Samudra of course is a deep deep ocean. So you see, there is no end to Rama’s kindness, or his tenderness for all living things.”

Then one day, Rishab came home later than usual. His grandmother stood at the door, waiting for him.

He went in with her, so full of news that he forgot to make his bag fly on to the nail on the wall.

“Pati!” he said, breathless, before she could ask him why he was late. “I saw a big procession today on the way home.”

“Oh? What procession was that?” she asked him, taking the bag off his back.

“There was a huge cardboard Rama with a bow and arrow. There were people with loudspeakers on a lorry. And everyone was shouting ‘Jai Shriram! Help us to defeat our enemies!' ”

Rishab was so full of the crowds he had seen – the colour, the noise and the marching that had reminded him of an army – that he didn’t notice how silent his grandmother was.
“And then, when the procession had marched down the road, I ran after it till the market,” said Rishab. “Look, one of the men with a trishul in his hand gave me this kumkum.”
Grandmother didn’t even look at it. “Put it away and come to eat,” she said.

Rishab was so excited by what he had seen that he had forgotten how hungry he was.

Later, as they lay side by side, Grandmother suddenly said: “Rishab, when Rama, Sita and Lakshmana were in the forest, they saw a deer grazing near their hut. It had a beautiful tail.”

“Sita admired the tail very much. She thought she would like to take home a tail like that to remember her years in the forest.

“Rama decided to get the deer’s tail for Sita.

“But the deer suddenly turned around. Now Rama could no longer see the tail. Instead, he saw the deer’s large, trusting eyes, and its defenceless neck – stretched out as if it was offering it in place of its tail.

“Rama was filled with pity, with tenderness. Sita didn’t get the deer’s tail. But as they went back into their hut, their faces – the faces of Rama, Sita and Lakshmana – were full of wonder at what they had seen: the beauty of love and trust between two living creatures.”

Grandmother stroked Rishab’s hair gently. “I know that look,” she told him. “That face of Rama you don’t need cardboard to see.”

Rishab looked at her, a little puzzled by Grandmother’s earnest face.

“Do you remember what I called the song I sang yesterday?” she asked him.

“Yes,” said Rishab, “you called it prema bhakti.”

“Do you remember what that means?” she then asked.

“A prayer that is love,” he replied.

And Rishab remembered the song again. He saw a peaceful, loving, generous face, like Rama’s when he spared the deer. This was the face of Rama that he saw in his head whenever he heard Pati sing.

“But Pati,” he said, still puzzled, “this face looks different from the cardboard one. Are they two different Ramas?”

“Sleep now,” said Grandmother, her voice barely above a whisper. “Rama lives in your heart, not on cardboard or in some building. And a prayer – or a song of love – does not need loudspeakers.”

Then they fell asleep together, side by side, as if they had travelled a long distance that afternoon.

Read the Hindi translation by C.D. Tiwari and Shama Futehally in the Hindi edition of the book here.
Reproduced from Sorry, Best Friend!, eds. Githa Hariharan and Shama Futehally, Tulika, 1997. Reproduced with permission from the author.

Githa Hariharan (githahariharan.com) is the author of novels, short stories, essays, newspaper articles, and columns.

Courtesy: Indian Cultural Forum.

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