Author: IANS
Publication: The Times of India
Date: October 9, 2008
URL: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Bajrang_Dal_dares_govt_to_ban_it/rssarticleshow/3577380.cms
Bajrang Dal, the youth wing of the Vishwa
Hindu Parishad (VHP), has dared the Indian government to ban it, warning that
the authorities will face the "consequences" if it was outlawed.
"We will fight the ban and we will go
to the people to explain the injustice done to us. The elections are coming
up soon and it (a ban) will prove costly for the government," Prakash
Sharma, national convenor of the Bajrang Dal, said.
The Hindu group has in recent weeks been accused
of targeting Christians and vandalising churches in Orissa and Karnataka.
A far more serious charged hurled at the group in recent times has been making
bombs with a view to attack Muslims.
Sharma denied that Bajrang Dal members had
anything to do with the violence in Orissa, where 35 Christians, mostly poor
villagers, have been killed in a series of violent incidents sparked by the
gunning down of a Hindu leader. ( Watch )
"Bajrang Dal does not believe in violence
of any kind. Our aim is ... public agitation by mobilising democratic governments
to protect Hindus," Sharma maintained.
He accused the media of portraying the Bajrang
Dal negatively. "Are newspapers competent enough to tell the truth? They
print anything," said Sharma.
Besides Muslim organisations, mainstream politicians
too have started demanding a ban on the Bajrang Dal, whose members are known
to resort to violence at the slightest perceived insult to Hindu religion.
Its members often take to the streets brandishing tridents and khukris. Its
ideology is virulently anti-Muslim and anti-Christian.
Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar is the latest
Indian politician to seek a ban on the Bajrang Dal, which takes its name after
the Hindu god Hanuman or Bajrang Bali.
The group has been linked to a bomb blast
in August 2006 at Nanded in Maharashtra where two people were killed. Apparently,
its members were making bombs when one or more exploded. A similar incident
occurred in August this year in Kanpur.
"The person involved in the Kanpur incident
used to be with Bajrang Dal 10 years ago. By that analogy, the Congress should
also be banned. Their minister ... was caught for the 1993 serial blasts in
Surat and now he has been jailed for 20 years," said Sharma.
Sharma is unapologetic about the Bajrang Dal's
role in "reconversions" in Orissa -- making Hindus who became Christians
embrace Hinduism again.
"What is reconversion? We are making
them return to where they were before. This is 'ghar wapasi' (coming back
home), and we are doing it. And it is legal," argued Sharma.
Despite talk of banning the Bajrang Dal, the
group is planning to launch its silver jubilee celebrations from this month.
"There will be 'yagya' and 'havan' in
Ayodhya Oct 13. It will be a religious event," Sharma said.
The Bajrang Dal, formed in 1984, played a
big role in the events leading to the demolition of the Babri Masjid in Ayodhya
in December 1992, which led to widespread Hindu-Muslim violence in the country.
On Wednesday, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh,
presiding over a cabinet meeting, said the government needed to have a "foolproof
case" if Bajrang Dal needed to be banned.
