Daily News and Analysis, October 22, 2008
In Kanpur, you can’t ignore the Saffron shine
Aditya Kaul
A parasite of VHP and RSS, Bajrang Dal claims to be involved in ‘awakening people’ but dismisses questions on attacks on minorities
NEW DELHI: Bajrang Dal, the youth wing of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad, doesn’t have an office of its own. It operates from the offices of the VHP and RSS. In Kanpur, there are dozens of offices of the two outfits providing ideological support to the Bajrang Dal.
At an RSS office in Gandhi Nagar, called the Vishwa Samwad Kendra that is the communication centre for the Kanpur region, one gets an idea of the sophistication and intricate nature of the operations of Sangh parivar.
As Arvind Kumar, the manager of the centre shows us around, we notice the office was littered with publications from various Vishwa Samvad Kendras across the state. In UP, there are seven such centres including those at Kanpur, Agra, Meerut, Uttaranchal, Gorakhpur, Awadh-Lucknow and Benaras.
Kumar says, “Our job here is to dispatch publications and other organisational communication to workers and other centres across the country.
Most of the communication is sent via e-mail.” Kumar is a full-time employee of the RSS and though he doesn’t get salary, all his expenses including housing, food and travel are borne by the RSS.
“We have a major presence in this city. There are around 60 RSS-supported schools run under the banner of Saraswati Vidyalayas and Deen Dayal Vidyalayas in the city,” says Kumar. The RSS is running 300 shakhas in Kanpur city alone and a total of 1,500 shakhas in Kanpur region. “The shakhas are normally held early in the morning because we face no disturbance at that time as it is not easy for our adversaries to get up that early,” he points out, adding that the Bajrang Dal conducts camps for students on a regular basis.
The RSS and VHP offices of Govind Nagar locality are situated inside a Saraswati Vidyalaya. A big RSS shakha was underway when we entered the compound. An RSS pracharak says a week-long annual camp was in progress, which was attended every day by about 120-130 students in the age group of 7-14 years from various RSS schools and other youths associated with the organisation.
Adjoining the RSS office is the VHP office where one Umesh Chandra Porwal tells us that he looks after the “cow protection wing” of the VHP. “We have cadre here in Kanpur to ensure no cows are slaughtered. We rescue hapless cows from butchers and send them to gaushalas (cowsheds).”
He then hands over to us a document on “cow therapy” and a small neatly packaged bottle containing a transparent liquid. “That is cow urine. It is very good for health. We also do research on cow therapy.”
During Dussera festivities in Kanpur on Parade Ground, the Sangh parivar’s sway over the city could not be overlooked. The only prominent tent at the entrance of the Ramlila-Parade ground was that of the Bajrang Dal. The place was swarming with Bajrang Dal members. The ramlila rath procession had a massive presence of men in saffron who accompanied the local policemen. The state police had also summoned the
Rapid Action Force personnel as a preemptive measure in case of a communal flare-up.
Inside the Bajrang Dal camp, Kamal Kumar, a long-time RSS pracharak in his 60’s, says that most of the members in the Ramlila organising committee are Sangh parivar sympathisers.
On the table in front of him lay pamphlets giving historical background of Ram Setu and how the struggle for protection of Ram Setu has to be taken forward. Kamal Kumar says, “Why do you think Mughals were able to invade this country and convert people to Islam? That is because several hundreds of years back Buddhism had spoilt the culture of Hindu civilisation by ingraining non-violence. We lost the culture of fighting.”
Kamal Kumar told us the Bajrang Dal has a strong force of about 12,000 active members and many part timers.
Bajrang Dal’s national convener Prakash Sharma stays on Shiwala road in Kanpur. He distances himself from the blast episode. “This is politics. People are opposing us to please vote banks. The Muslims are standing out there as vote banks. We have got no connection with the blast episode…. Let the government ban Bajrang Dal. If they think it should be banned, it will be the most undemocratic thing to do in independent India.”
Referring to the Christian killings in Orissa and Karnataka he said. “Aaj pure desh mein hinduon pe atyachar ho raha hai. Assam mein Bodo wale maar rahe. Orissa mein Christians ko char thappad kya mar diye to chillane lage.”
|
