The Bajrang Dal, an extremist group which springs into action as soon as it sniffs any opportunity to enact right-wing ideology on the ground, recently conducted ‘training’ on how to use guns and trishuls (traditional Indian tridents) to attack. All this under the nose of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government in Karnataka led by Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai.

This is not the first time such right-wing groups have held such meetings/ training camps in the state, according to news reports, the CM has “been accused of turning a blind eye on similar activities carried out by right-wing groups.” This time, a week-long “arms training” camp was conducted by Bajarang Dal, in Ponnampet in Kodagu district, about 240 kms from Bengaluru. According to a report in the Hindustan Times, the ‘camp’ was attended by over 100 people who were then given Trishuls. 

However Bajarang Dal’s south Karnataka convener Raghu Sakleshpur claimed that the tridents that were given out were “just 5.5 inches and not even sharp. It is not considered a weapon but a religious symbol. We conduct such sessions every year but the last two years it did not happen because of Covid-19.” 

According to the police, details are being collected of the Ponnampet camp and “so far, no complaint has been filed in the matter,” reported HT. The Kodagu area, in the Malnad belt, borders Dakshina Kannada, where the right-wing Hindutva-eco system finds a home to prosper. Kodagu itself is known as a BJP stronghold. According to a report in The Print, this “camp was part of the ‘Shaurya Prashikshana Varga’ that took place from May 5 to 11 at Sai Shankar Educational Institute, at Ponnampet in Kodagu district.”

Photos of the so called ‘training camp’, police permission to conduct which is not available on the public domain yet, showed ‘youngsters firing air guns’ and accepting the tridents. A Bajarang Dal worker, who did not to be named, was quoted by HT saying such ‘training camps’ were conducted every year in the state. He said, “We distribute the trishuls under ‘trishula deekshe’ which is a part of our practice. These trishuls have never been misused.” He however did not add why such a training camp was needed for civilians anyway. 

Congress leader Dinesh Gundu Rao raised concern on social media and asked, “Why are Bajrang Dal members receiving arms training? Isn’t training in firearms without a proper licence an offence? Isn’t this a violation of the Arms Act 1959, Arms Rules 1962?”

Why are #BajrangDal members receiving ams training?
Isn’t training in firearms without a proper license an offense?
Isn’t this a violation of the Arms Act 1959, Arms Rules 1962?
And Why are @BJP4India leaders openly attending and supporting this activity?https://t.co/ySTcP8F4eS

— Dinesh Gundu Rao/ದಿನೇಶ್ ಗುಂಡೂರಾವ್ (@dineshgrao) May 16, 2022

This so-called ‘trishul diksha’ or trident distribution has been on overdrive in the past few months. It has been done by several Hindutva leaders big and small. The most recognisable of them, all being Pravin Togadia, surgeon-turned-Hindutva leader, now the president of Antarashtriya Hindu Parishad (AHP). His group has been distributing the  trishul (trident),  to civilians arming them to be  “protectors of the Hindu faith”.  These “Trishul Diksha” camps and events have been held in Gujarat and Assam, and are often accompanied by anti-Muslim statements and speeches by the likes of Togadia and his aides.

Related:

CJP moves NCM seeking action against Haribhushan Thakur Bachaul for anti-Muslim genocidal speech

Major arms haul in Saurashtra

How is the Assam gov’t allowing Pravin Togadia’s trishul distribution?

Sheath the swords, while there is still time!

Gujarat:  Antarashtriya Hindu Parishad is stage for anti-Muslim abuse, trident distribution

The post Hate Watch: Bajarang Dal claims Trishul a religious symbol not a weapon appeared first on SabrangIndia.

Pravin Togadia, surgeon-turned-Hindutva leader, president of Antarashtriya Hindu Parishad (AHP), is on a mission to weaponize the peace loving citizens of Assam. He has been frequenting the state, and as the latest video now circulating on social media and Whatsapp groups shows, has been personally making innocent people of Assam, repeat an anti-Muslim ‘oath’ after him in Hindi, while holding sharp trishuls (traditional Indian tridents).

Togadia and his team have been openly distributing these weapons and encouraging people that this makes them “brave”, and that once armed like this, they become “protectors of the Hindu faith”. After the AHP’s Gujarat “Trishul Diksha” where they distributed thousands of swords and tridents to the people, went off without any interference from the authorities, they set their eyes on Assam, another Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) governed state. 

In teh video, Togadia can be seen sporting a traditional gamusa (scarf) of the state, and leading an oath, “Hum veer hain. Vijay prapt karenge. Hum maa Kamakhya devi, mahamaya kanthika devi. Bhagwan Shankar ka trishul dharan karke sankalp karte hain ki, loktantrik, kanooni padhyati se  50 lakh Bangladeshi Musalmano ko Bangladesh bhej kar hi dum lenge. Hum desh mein 2 crore, Assam mein 5 lakh yuvaon ko trishul dharan karvake, Assam ke veeron ko vijayta banayenge.” Translated, this is an anti-Muslim oath, in the garb of being anti-Bangladeshi-Muslim vow. He invoked gods and goddesses to convince the people that the trident is a ‘divine’ weapon, and encouraged them rest only after they “deport 50 Lakh Bangladeshi Muslims, back to Bangladesh”.  

He uses the term “we” to signify that he is with the people of Assam who do this for him, and tries to water down this call for violence adding that this “chasing away Muslims”, should be done in a ‘democratic and legal way’. He does not have any powers to issue such an oath or dictat, and yet has the confidence that the law will not catch up with him here either. He then repeats his plan that he and his group are in the process of giving weapons to “2 Crore Indians” and “5 lakh in Assam”. Togadia may just have announced an ‘ethic cleansing’ drive, even though he has chosen his words carefully, throwing ‘religion’ and ‘bravery’ into the dangerous mix. 

Pravin Todagia latest trishul oath has been shared widely on social media:

Hindu extremist leader Pravin Togadia says that he will distribute weapons (Trident) to 20 million Hindus. pic.twitter.com/1G2JlG3uZI

— HindutvaWatch (@HindutvaWatchIn) April 24, 2022

But this instance is not new. Pravin Togadia was in Assam, making anti-Muslim statements on April 6, in Golokganj, Dhubri district where he claimed that Dhubri now has only “20% Hindus” and 12 Lakh Muslims have come here from Bangladesh. He demanded that the DNA test of Muslim migrants who came here after 1951, be done by the State Government, and those who ‘fail’ should be sent to detention camps. He  applauded Chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma for “freeing Assam’s land from illegal Bangladeshi encroachers” and asked him to “detected, isolate and deport” illegal migrants claiming that “illegal infiltrators” were living freely in Assam. He went on to suggest if “Bangladesh did not take back the illegal foreigners, India must capture an area of Bangladesh!”

Pravin Togadia is well on his way to revive his 2000’s agenda of militarising Hindu society. The process was documented and analysed by Communalism Combat in 2001 around the time when the Bajrang Dal had undertaken countrywide Trishul Diksha Samarohs. The Bajrang Dal’s trishuls were, “Rampuri knives that can kill, specially crafted to look like a religious symbol”. The original piece may be read here. In 2016, the Bajrang Dal started training its cadres in Uttar Pradesh to use rifles, swords and lathis ostensibly to “protect Hindus”. Now Assam is their top target.

Related:

Sheath the swords, while there is still time!
Gujarat:  Antarashtriya Hindu Parishad is stage for anti-Muslim abuse, trident 
Right-wing’s dangerous obsession with mosques and dargahs peaks during Ramzan

The post How is the Assam gov’t allowing Pravin Togadia’s trishul distribution? appeared first on SabrangIndia.

The trishul (trident), along with sharp edged swords and axes seem to be replacing saffron shawls as a must have for those who want to be seen as “protectors of the Hindu faith”. Leading from the front to arm the masses, claiming that the trishul, for one, is a religious symbol or artefact and not a weapon is Pravin Togadia, surgeon-turned-Hindutva leader, now the president of Antarashtriya Hindu Parishad (AHP). 

Recently, the AHP organised an event in Gujarat where they distributed thousands of swords and tridents to the people. What kripan is to a Sikh, a trishul is to a Hindu. And it is precisely for that reason that both are exempt from the provisions of the Indian Arms Act, as was analysed by SabrangIndia’s sister publication Communalism Combat in 2001.  

This weapon distribution event was attended by the Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) Member of Parliament (MP) Dipsinh Rathore, MLA Raju Chavda and members of VHP and Bajrang Dal. This weapon distribution event even had a religious title of “Trishul Diksha” (or trident initiation ceremony) and was reportedly organised by the Bajrang Dal North Gujarat unit in the Swaminarayan Temple at Himmatnagar. It was reported that 5,100 people were administered an “oath” where they promised to “protect Hindu religion” and were then armed with tridents. According to the Bajrang Dal’s North Gujarat Coordinator Jwalit Mehta, “similar programmes”  will now be organised across other towns in the coming weeks. Now armed with tridents, the masses reportedly took out a rally across Himmatnagar town displaying their newly acquired trident and swords.

Soon, Pravin Togadia resurfaced in Assam, where he has been making anti-Muslim statements at different events. On April 6, Togadia was Golokganj, Dhubri district where he made anti-Muslim remarks. He claimed that Dhubri now has only “20% Hindus” and 12 Lakh Muslims have come here from Bangladesh. He demanded that the DNA of Muslim migrants who came here after 1951, be tested by the State Government. According to him those who ‘fail’ this test as it were, should be sent to detention camps or arrested. Togadia said Assam state should restart the National Register of Citizens (NRC) with 1951 as the cutoff year. He claimed that if that was not done, a film by the name of “Assam files” will be made 20 years later, doffing his hat to the controversial movie The Kashmir Files. Togadia told the media, “If the government wants to stop similar situations like Kashmir then it should take urgent steps to prepare a fresh NRC with 1951 cutoff year. Why should there be two cutoff dates in the country? If for the rest of India, the cutoff year to identify a foreigner is 1951, the NRC in Assam should also have the same cutoff date.”

He applauded Chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma for “freeing Assam’s land from illegal Bangladeshi encroachers” and asked him to “detected, isolate and deport” illegal migrants claiming that “illegal infiltrators” were living freely in Assam. He went on to suggest if “Bangladesh did not take back the illegal foreigners, India must capture an area inside Bangladesh and settle them there” reported local news portal Time8. 

He added that the Bajrang Dal and his own group were going to raise units in various areas. It is crucial to note that now that involves programmes like “trishul diksha” where sharp weapons will be given to the masses as it is being done in Gujarat. He is emboldened by the fact that there has been no police action so far against this mass public distribution of weapons. Togadia’s claims and threats against Muslim living in the area, calling for mass arrests of Muslims can be heard here: 

On April 8, he was in the  Udalguri district and asked his followers, “Was there Islam in the world 1,400 years ago? If there was no Islam in the world 1,400 years ago, was there any Muslim in the world 1,400 years ago? Jesus Christ did not exist on earth 2,000 years ago. Tell me, could there be any Christian on earth 2,000 years ago?” He then told them that there were “only Hindus in the whole world. There were Hindus in India, there were Hindus in Mecca, Medina and Arab countries. There were also Hindus in Europe, America and Australia.” 

Togadia then kept up his mythological discourse and claimed that “Sri Purushas who were born from their thousands of luminous bodies to run the creation are our ancestors” adding that it was “God himself gave birth to our ancestors. So tell me, are we children of God?” This was his way to the lay the ground for the anti-Muslim hate speech that followed where he claimed that Muslims came to Assam from Bangladesh. He claimed that Muslims were “increasing their population by giving birth to many children. Not one or two, wholesale.”

[English Caption]

Hindu extremist leader Pravin Togadia spewed venom against Muslims in Assam. pic.twitter.com/W8Eps0kTyf

— HindutvaWatch (@HindutvaWatchIn) April 9, 2022

https://www.time8.in/togadia-insulted-assam-accord-aiudf-opposes-fresh-nrc/

The resurrection of Pravin Togadia is to revive what he did in the 2000s. He was on the forefront of Militarising Hindu society. The process was documented by Communalism Combat in 2001. The Bajrang Dal had undertaken countrywide Trishul Diksha Samarohs. Rajasthan’s chief minister, Ashok Gehlot, had said that over 40 lakh Hindus had been armed with trishuls within months. The Bajrang Dal’s trishuls were as Congress leaders and police officials had then pointed out, “Rampuri knives that can kill, specially crafted to look like a religious symbol”. The Bajrang Dal was engaged in a national programme to ‘militarise’ Hindus. 

In Rajasthan, which was a Congress–ruled state then, as it is once again now, over 40 lakhs of Bajrang Dal’s ‘trishuls’ — carefully disguised Rampuri knives that can kill — had been distributed in 2001, as documented in the November 2001 edition of CC.  The original piece may be read here. 

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. Here is an axe being brandished by Hinduvta ‘monk’ Bajrang Muni, now in the news again for issuing rape threats to Muslim women, this clip is reportedly from 2017.

“Drink milk from your mother’s breasts for the final time, saints won’t give you another chance…Let that prostitute come out of jail, we Gaurakshaks will prove our masculinity by making her pregnant…”

This video of Bajrang Muni is from 2017.pic.twitter.com/GqkfA2bZfS

— Alishan Jafri (@alishan_jafri) April 8, 2022

Flash forward to April 2022 in Gujarat. The Antarashtriya Hindu Parishad has now received that program and has planned many more. Weapons were seen during the screening of The Kashmir Files in March 2022. Videos of hate speech being made by Hindutva leaders, some who got weapons inside Movie theatres, are still viral. It is not known if these men have been arrested yet.

But the call to arms for Hindus, given by violence oriented Hindutva leaders was also heard in December 2021. “Carry swords to protect cows,” said Sadhvi Saraswati, a Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) leader. Saraswati told 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.” Saraswati was speaking at the Hindu Sangama programme organised by the VHP and Bajrang Dal at the Karkala Gandhi Maidan on Sunday, December 12, 2021. She said, “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.” 

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.” 

Related:

Rajasthan: All you need to know about the Karauli violence

Teesta Setalvad is NOT making any movie titled “The Gujarat Files”: CJP to YouTube news channels

Bajrang Muni Das openly threatens Muslim women with sexual assault

‘What will it take for the Biden administration to call out Modi’s regime for human rights violations?’: US lawmaker, Ilhan Omar

Gujarat:  Antarashtriya Hindu Parishad is stage for anti-Muslim abuse, trident distribution

Aakar Patel granted relief, free to travel, CBI ordered to withdraw Look out Circular

Right-wing’s dangerous obsession with mosques and dargahs peaks during Ramzan

Gujarat HC grants protection to inter-caste couple

Allahabad HC dismisses revision petition against discharge order of BJP MP Sakshi 

The post Sheath the swords, while there is still time! appeared first on SabrangIndia.

India appears to be plagued by the resurgence of religious fundamentalism. The unfortunate aspect of this resurgence is that it is not limited to intellectual discourse, but has degenerated into physical violence and systematic attacks on people and institutions perceived to have views which are not in conformity with those of the proponents of fundamentalist convictions.
At the very core of Indian civilisation is the spirit of tolerance and non-violence. Indian history, for as far back as it goes, is witness to this spirit of acceptance of differences, whether linguistic, cultural, religious or ethnic. No other comparable civilisation can boast of a society as multi–cultural, multi–ethnic, multi–linguistic and multi–religious as India.
Modern secular societies are post-industrial revolution and have emerged out of the conflicts of industrial disputes and global wars. India’s secular character, on the contrary, is inherent in its cultural identity.

Even a cursory glance into Indian history shows that this society always accepted influences and ideas from all over the world. Apart from these cultures which became indigenous to India, there were widely differing ethnic, linguistic, religious and cultural groups which constituted Indian society, even before the influx of external influences. Indian society was never (and even now, is not) homogeneous ethnically, linguistically, religiously or culturally. Tribal animism, Buddhism, Jainism, Sikhism and other distinct religio-cultural realities are as much an integral part of Indian society as Hinduism. Even Hinduism is not a homogeneous, monolithic religious entity. There is no orthodoxy in Hinduism; nor is there a central religious authority which determines and promulgates what is orthodox or not. Hinduism embraces all shades of belief from atheism to pantheism; from strictly individual and personal dharma to collective bhakti.
This open and eclectic society, which accepts widely differing intellectual, spiritual and ritual realities, is a model of what a secular society should be. Indian secular society should make every Indian proud of being Indian. The recent trend of intolerance and violent dissent, therefore, is not only regrettable; it is also totally alien to what constitutes Indian culture.
What then is the reason for the rise of religious intolerance?

The first hypothesis is that the real reason for the intolerance is not purely religious. A very insignificant religious minority likes the Christians, who are not more than 2.4 per cent of the total population of India cannot possibly pose a threat to the religious majority in terms of conversions. The factual situation is that the proportion of Christians has in fact declined from 2.8 per cent in 1947 to 2.4 per cent today. Therefore, the attack on Christians and Christian institutions on the grounds that they are forcing conversions is totally untenable.

The existence of educational, social and health institutions cannot possibly pose a threat to the religious convictions of the Hindus. On the contrary, there is intense pressure on Christian educational and health institutions to admit the children of Hindu, Sikh, Jain, Parsi and other religious groups.

The bogey of forced conversions cannot survive logical scrutiny. Therefore, we have to look elsewhere for the motives for the attacks against Christian institutions and personnel.
The second hypothesis is that the motives of the fundamentalists are social and economic. The real reason that there are concerted attacks against Christians and Christian institutions is that Christians preach and propagate the idea of the dignity of all human beings as children of God. This means that all persons are equal and deserve to be respected as equals. This doctrine is not palatable to some persons who still firmly believe that men are not created equal, but that some men belong to a lower status and are destined to serve people of a higher caste. This social inequality is given religious sanction, and any attempt to disturb this situation is a threat to those who stand to benefit from this inequality. It is no secret that Indian society is firmly based on the caste system, which the fundamentalists are striving to preserve at any cost. They feel threatened by the social doctrine, which challenges this age–old system of social inequality. Christianity is the embodiment of the doctrine of the equality of all men and women, notwithstanding that even some Christians fail to live up to this doctrine. Hence, Christianity poses a threat to the fundamentalists.

The third hypothesis is that fundamentalism is a reversion to tradition when modernity poses a threat to social systems. It is a well–accepted sociological phenomenon that when a society or a community of people cannot withstand the pressure of change, it seeks security in a reversion to traditional values and ways of doing things. Rituals are an important aspect of this blanket of security. Hence, fundamentalist movements flaunt symbols and rituals to assert their identity. This explains the widespread use of the trishul and the provocative display of the saffron flag to herald the fundamentalist resistance to change.

This reversion to tradition by the Hindu fundamentalists is also displayed in the pseudo–swadeshi movement on the economic front. The fundamentalist swadeshi movement is not the swadeshi movement of Mahatma Gandhi. It is a distortion of Gandhi’s concept of swadeshi. Gandhi’s swadeshi movement was intended to build up self–reliance in India’s industry, and to reverse India’s dependence on goods and services provided from outside. It was necessary under the circumstances of colonial exploitation.

The fundamentalist swadeshi movement, however, is a blind opposition to anything and everything that is not Indian. The fact remains, however, that the economic context has changed since the time of Indian independence. The fundamentalist swadeshi movement is an anachronism in today’s global and interdependent world.

Unfortunately, the Hindu fundamentalists equate globalisation with Christianity and its social values. This is a totally distorted view of Christianity. Christianity does not stand for any particular economic system; nor does it represent any geopolitical ideology. Christianity has serious concerns about some of the negative aspects of globalisation and the competitive theory of economic development. It is a totally misguided enthusiasm, which drives Hindu fundamentalists to attack Christians on the mistaken belief that Christianity is responsible for the negative consequences of globalisation.

Hindu fundamentalists are propagating the view that Christianity is posing a threat to traditional Indian social values. This charge is patently false. Christianity does not represent modern western social or cultural values. Christianity transcends social and cultural systems. Christianity is at home in any cultural context; and is indigenous to all social systems and cultural climates. However, it comes into conflict with only those systems which deny the fundamental dignity of the human person. It needs to be strongly reiterated that Christianity is built upon the fundamental value that every single person is created by God in His own image and likeness. Any society or culture which transgresses this principle stands in opposition to Christianity. Any social system, which denies, either in theory or in practice, the fundamental dignity of the human person, stands in conflict with Christian principles.

The value system, which is prevalent in the western world today, has emerged out of a culture of competitiveness and aggressive individualism. It is a form of economic Darwinism. It is the new face of post-industrial colonialism. It has given rise not only to economic competition, but is also responsible for the mad rush for military superiority. The limited resources of the earth are being wrongly harnessed to build weapons of mass destruction instead of being invested in promoting human development. It is an insanity of modernism that urgently needs to be reversed.

These values are totally un-Christian. For the Hindu fundamentalists to infer that the spirit of aggressiveness and individualism is derived from Christianity is totally erroneous.
The post–industrial culture has also resulted in the degradation of family values. Women, and even children, are treated as mere commodities to be exploited. The family as the basic unit of a healthy society is under tremendous pressure because of the rampant individualism of an economic system based on the principle of the survival of the fittest.

This is a cultural aberration, which is as abhorrent to Christianity as it is to traditional Hinduism. However, it has to be acknowledged that this culture is NOT the result of any religion. It is the outcome of a culture which has divested itself of religious and moral values.

For the Hindu fundamentalists to aver that Hinduism is under threat from Christianity is to completely misunderstand the sociological processes underway in today’s world. The fact is that not only is Hinduism under threat, but that Christianity is equally under threat from the forces of a godless, selfish and aggressive culture. Instead of mobilising its energy to fight Christianity, enlightened Hindus should join forces with Christianity to reverse the unfortunate trends which are adversely affecting modern society.

This has to be done in a spirit of dialogue and mutual understanding – not in a spirit of confrontation and aggressiveness. The need of the hour is for all religions to pool their resources to create a truly humane society, which works for the proper human development of all humankind. Inter–religious rivalry is misguided and inappropriate.

Instead of religious confrontation, the ills of modern society call for more inter–religious dialogue and a common quest for appropriate remedies. After all, all religions represent the highest aspirations of their adherents. This is a common endeavour. If all the forces of good are harnessed, there is hope still for the regeneration of the social order.

Archived from Communalism Combat, January 2000. Year 7  No. 55, Reader's Forum

The post Believers of the world, unite! appeared first on SabrangIndia.