[. . .]
I have had occasion to document Ghar Wapsi events in various villages of Orissa, and not just in Kandhamal, where the process has involved shaving off the head of men and women, their purification through a mixture of cowdung and cow urine, the chanting of mantras around the fire and, wherever possible, the burning of “alien” books such as the Bible. Colleagues, who have documented the Ghar Wapsi organised by former BJP Minister and strongman Dilip Singh Judeo, speak of how his armed cadres—armed with bows and arrows as much as with modern guns—would surround the place and keep watch while he “initiated” the Christians into the Hindu fold.
My own observations after field studies are of Ghar Wapsi as a movement that uses armed force and violence, certainly the threat of violence, towards a conversion of neo-Christians to Hinduism.
It cannot be called a homecoming because the tribals do not accept Hinduism as a default language, and over the past years, there has been a vigorous movement among those of them who are not Christians to assert their roots in the Sarna and other indigenous religions. The 2011 census was slightly better than the 2001 census in allowing some space for indigenous religions to have their voice heard as opposed to the past when they were all routinely lumped under the Hindu label. This lacuna still remains in law and the BJP ruled States list all so-called “Indic” religions as Hindus. The matter needs to be taken to one of the superior courts in the interests of constitutional provisions for freedom of faith and belief guaranteed to every Indian citizen.
The Ghar Wapsi activities also encourage lumpen elements and smaller organised village level groups to gather strength and demand homogenisation in the villages. This is not a simple matter and has in it the seeds of future violence in rural groups deeply divided on the basis of a new, militant version of Hinduism.
http://www.sacw.net/article4747.html
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Showing posts with label Vanvasi Kalyan Kendra. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Vanvasi Kalyan Kendra. Show all posts
June 15, 2013
January 05, 2011
Hindutva leader to be booked for Samjhauta blast - 2 reports from Times of India
The Times of India
Saffron terror leader to be booked for Samjhauta blast
by Vishwa Mohan & Dwaipayan Ghosh, TNN, Jan 6, 2011, 12.54am IST
NEW DELHI: The National Investigation Agency probing the blast on Samjhauta Express in February 2007 looks set to book militant Hindutva leader Aseemanand. It has identified Aseemanand as the key plotter of the attack that killed 68 people, majority of them Pakistani citizens returning home after visiting their kin in India.
Sources in the agency, which was brought in after investigations by Haryana Police reached a dead-end, told TOI that Aseemanand planned the blast to avenge the series of terror attacks by Islamist terror groups.
"The role of Hindu extremists behind the blast has become clear. The probe agency found that Aseemanand was one of the plotters. The group had done it under their 'Bomb-for-Bomb' plan which was hatched in the Dangs district of Gujarat," said sources in the NIA.
Haryana police had found similarities in the explosives used in the Samjhauta blast and the explosion at Hyderabad's Mecca Masjid, another attack suspected to have been carried out by Aseemanand and his comrades under the 'Bomb-for-Bomb' plan.
But the Haryana cops could not connect the dots. The picture was further complicated when the US named a Pakistani terrorist, Asif Kasmani, suspected to be a go-between Lashkar and al-Qaida, as the main suspect in the Samajhauta blast.
NIA's probe into the cases of saffron terror has gathered momentum after the arrest of Aseemanand who is believed to have inspired Abhinav Bharat members to retaliate against Islamist terror.
NIA's investigation into the Samjhauta train attack may give Pakistan a handle to embarrass India. Officials are wary of the possibility of Islamabad asking for Aseemanand's custody once he is charge-sheeted. But the government has decided to press ahead with the probe, said an official.
=====
SEE ALSO:
The Times of India
From a swami to kingpin of 'Hindutva terror'
Yagnesh Mehta, TNN, Jan 5, 2011, 05.54am IST
Swami Aseemanand is the latest big name in the "Hindutva" terror web blamed for a series of blasts; starting with Samjhauta Express in 2007 to the ones at shrines in Hyderabad, Ajmer and Malegaon.
The 58-year-old, whose real name is Jatin Chatterjee, is best known for reconverting tribals in the remote Dangs area of Gujarat from Christianity to Hinduism.
But as the anti-terrorist squad and then the National Investigation Agency (NIA) dug deeper, they found that Aseemanand was more than just a preacher.
Investigators believe that the "bomb-for-bomb" policy of the extremist Hindu groups was formulated at Shabridham in the Dangs during the Shabri Kumbh held from February 11 to 13, 2006. The Shabri Kumbh, a mela was the brainchild of Aseemanand who came to the Dangs in 1995. In fact, the success of the fair helped BJP win the Dangs assembly seat for the first time in 2007. Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur, Sunil Joshi, Ramji Kalsangra, Lokesh Sharma and Sandeep Dange were some at the saffron activists who participated in the 2006 Shabri Kumbh.
The investigators are now trying to put together the story of how the conspirators managed to not only create a terror network but also acquired skills to make sophisticated bombs within just a year.
Aseemanand's case cropped up soon after the arrest of Sadhvi Pragya Thakur in the Malegaon blast case. He was using a mobile phone registered in the name of his driver Sunil Dahod. Many calls were made from this phone to Sadhvi Pragya Thakur. The Maharashtra ATS questioned Dahod in November 2008 to track Aseemanand but he escaped. He was finally arrested by the CBI in Haridwar on November 19 last year.
The 80-page chargesheet filed by CBI said Aseemanand held a meeting within 10 days of the bomb explosion at Sankatmochan temple in Varanasi in March 2006 with his supporters.
On Monday, the NIA told the court that the Samjhauta blast was hatched in the Dangs district of Gujarat and at Chittaranjan in West Bengal.
Aseemanand first landed in the Dangs as a member of the Vanavasi Kalyan Ashram, an RSS front organisation. Before that, he was active in the Andaman & Nicobar Islands.
Born and brought up in West Bengal, Aseemanand completed his masters in physics from West Bengal's Burdwan University and joined the Vanavasi Kalyan Ashram in 1978.
Aseemanand's reconversion drive spread to the neighbouring tribal areas of Valsad, Navsari and Surat of Gujarat and Nandurbar of Maharashtra.
He started reconversion of Christian tribals to Hinduism with a bath at the hot water spring at Unai temple. He gained a fair amount of popularity during this time. After around two years of stay in the Dangs, Aseemanand managed to create strong feelings among Hindu tribals which led to anti-Christian riots in December 1998 in various parts of the backward area.
Then prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and leader of opposition Sonia Gandhi had then visited the Dangs. Following the riots, Aseemananad went underground for a year.
Saffron terror leader to be booked for Samjhauta blast
by Vishwa Mohan & Dwaipayan Ghosh, TNN, Jan 6, 2011, 12.54am IST
NEW DELHI: The National Investigation Agency probing the blast on Samjhauta Express in February 2007 looks set to book militant Hindutva leader Aseemanand. It has identified Aseemanand as the key plotter of the attack that killed 68 people, majority of them Pakistani citizens returning home after visiting their kin in India.
Sources in the agency, which was brought in after investigations by Haryana Police reached a dead-end, told TOI that Aseemanand planned the blast to avenge the series of terror attacks by Islamist terror groups.
"The role of Hindu extremists behind the blast has become clear. The probe agency found that Aseemanand was one of the plotters. The group had done it under their 'Bomb-for-Bomb' plan which was hatched in the Dangs district of Gujarat," said sources in the NIA.
Haryana police had found similarities in the explosives used in the Samjhauta blast and the explosion at Hyderabad's Mecca Masjid, another attack suspected to have been carried out by Aseemanand and his comrades under the 'Bomb-for-Bomb' plan.
But the Haryana cops could not connect the dots. The picture was further complicated when the US named a Pakistani terrorist, Asif Kasmani, suspected to be a go-between Lashkar and al-Qaida, as the main suspect in the Samajhauta blast.
NIA's probe into the cases of saffron terror has gathered momentum after the arrest of Aseemanand who is believed to have inspired Abhinav Bharat members to retaliate against Islamist terror.
NIA's investigation into the Samjhauta train attack may give Pakistan a handle to embarrass India. Officials are wary of the possibility of Islamabad asking for Aseemanand's custody once he is charge-sheeted. But the government has decided to press ahead with the probe, said an official.
=====
SEE ALSO:
The Times of India
From a swami to kingpin of 'Hindutva terror'
Yagnesh Mehta, TNN, Jan 5, 2011, 05.54am IST
Swami Aseemanand is the latest big name in the "Hindutva" terror web blamed for a series of blasts; starting with Samjhauta Express in 2007 to the ones at shrines in Hyderabad, Ajmer and Malegaon.
The 58-year-old, whose real name is Jatin Chatterjee, is best known for reconverting tribals in the remote Dangs area of Gujarat from Christianity to Hinduism.
But as the anti-terrorist squad and then the National Investigation Agency (NIA) dug deeper, they found that Aseemanand was more than just a preacher.
Investigators believe that the "bomb-for-bomb" policy of the extremist Hindu groups was formulated at Shabridham in the Dangs during the Shabri Kumbh held from February 11 to 13, 2006. The Shabri Kumbh, a mela was the brainchild of Aseemanand who came to the Dangs in 1995. In fact, the success of the fair helped BJP win the Dangs assembly seat for the first time in 2007. Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur, Sunil Joshi, Ramji Kalsangra, Lokesh Sharma and Sandeep Dange were some at the saffron activists who participated in the 2006 Shabri Kumbh.
The investigators are now trying to put together the story of how the conspirators managed to not only create a terror network but also acquired skills to make sophisticated bombs within just a year.
Aseemanand's case cropped up soon after the arrest of Sadhvi Pragya Thakur in the Malegaon blast case. He was using a mobile phone registered in the name of his driver Sunil Dahod. Many calls were made from this phone to Sadhvi Pragya Thakur. The Maharashtra ATS questioned Dahod in November 2008 to track Aseemanand but he escaped. He was finally arrested by the CBI in Haridwar on November 19 last year.
The 80-page chargesheet filed by CBI said Aseemanand held a meeting within 10 days of the bomb explosion at Sankatmochan temple in Varanasi in March 2006 with his supporters.
On Monday, the NIA told the court that the Samjhauta blast was hatched in the Dangs district of Gujarat and at Chittaranjan in West Bengal.
Aseemanand first landed in the Dangs as a member of the Vanavasi Kalyan Ashram, an RSS front organisation. Before that, he was active in the Andaman & Nicobar Islands.
Born and brought up in West Bengal, Aseemanand completed his masters in physics from West Bengal's Burdwan University and joined the Vanavasi Kalyan Ashram in 1978.
Aseemanand's reconversion drive spread to the neighbouring tribal areas of Valsad, Navsari and Surat of Gujarat and Nandurbar of Maharashtra.
He started reconversion of Christian tribals to Hinduism with a bath at the hot water spring at Unai temple. He gained a fair amount of popularity during this time. After around two years of stay in the Dangs, Aseemanand managed to create strong feelings among Hindu tribals which led to anti-Christian riots in December 1998 in various parts of the backward area.
Then prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and leader of opposition Sonia Gandhi had then visited the Dangs. Following the riots, Aseemananad went underground for a year.
January 04, 2011
RSS top brass and Aseemanand at Shabari Kumbh - 2006 Hindutva jamboree
Hindustan Times
Senior RSS men at blast accused's 2006 jamboree
Rajesh Ahuja, Hindustan Times
New Delhi, January 04, 2011
Was Aseemanand only a fringe player in the Hindutva camp? Although the mastermind of the alleged Hindu terror blasts was a leader of only an RSS-inspired group, Vanvasi Kalyan Ashram, he used to enjoy the trust of the top Hindutva leadership. So much so that a good part of the who’s who of the Hindutva camp attended his Shabari Kumbh in Gujarat’s Dang district in 2006 to make the event a success. (Aseemanand headed the Vanvasi Kalyan Ashram in Dangs district.)
Among the luminaries at the event were then Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh chief KS Sudershan, his deputy and current chief Mohan Bhagwat and Madhya Pradesh chief minister Shivraj Singh Chauhan, besides Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi.
Also, religious and social leaders, such as Morari Bapu, Swami Satyamitrananda Giri, Asaram Bapu and Shankaracharya Vidya Narsingh Bharati of Karvir Peeth, attended the event.
Aseemanand, investigators said, organised the event meant for attracting tribals to the Hindutva camp by using the Ramayana character Shabari, a tribal woman devoted to Ram.
But the Rajasthan anti-terrorist squad has said in its chargesheet in the Ajmer blast case that Aseemanand alias Jotin Chatterjee — a suspect in blasts on the Samjhauta Express and in Mecca Masjid, Ajmer Sharif, Malegaon and Modasa — used the event to meet his followers to finalise plans for the blasts.
The chargesheet said around half-a-dozen members of Aseemanand’s group reached the venue 10-12 days ahead of the start of the event on February 11, 2006. It also said people later exposed for their roles in the blasts — Sunil Joshi, Pragya Singh Thakur, Sandeep Dange, Ramji Kalsangra, Lokesh Sharma and Devendra Gupta — were among the organisers.
Of them, Joshi, a close follower of Aseemanand, was shot dead in December 2007 while Dange and Kalsangra are yet to be apprehended. Aseemanand was arrested from Haridwar last November.
But Manmohan Vaidya, national publicity chief of the RSS, said Aseemanand was only a member, not a leader, of the ‘Shabari Kumbh Mahostav Aayojan Samiti — the event’s organising committee. Admitting he used to lead an RSS-inspired group, Vaidya declined further comment as the matter is being investigated.
Senior RSS men at blast accused's 2006 jamboree
Rajesh Ahuja, Hindustan Times
New Delhi, January 04, 2011
Was Aseemanand only a fringe player in the Hindutva camp? Although the mastermind of the alleged Hindu terror blasts was a leader of only an RSS-inspired group, Vanvasi Kalyan Ashram, he used to enjoy the trust of the top Hindutva leadership. So much so that a good part of the who’s who of the Hindutva camp attended his Shabari Kumbh in Gujarat’s Dang district in 2006 to make the event a success. (Aseemanand headed the Vanvasi Kalyan Ashram in Dangs district.)
Among the luminaries at the event were then Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh chief KS Sudershan, his deputy and current chief Mohan Bhagwat and Madhya Pradesh chief minister Shivraj Singh Chauhan, besides Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi.
Also, religious and social leaders, such as Morari Bapu, Swami Satyamitrananda Giri, Asaram Bapu and Shankaracharya Vidya Narsingh Bharati of Karvir Peeth, attended the event.
Aseemanand, investigators said, organised the event meant for attracting tribals to the Hindutva camp by using the Ramayana character Shabari, a tribal woman devoted to Ram.
But the Rajasthan anti-terrorist squad has said in its chargesheet in the Ajmer blast case that Aseemanand alias Jotin Chatterjee — a suspect in blasts on the Samjhauta Express and in Mecca Masjid, Ajmer Sharif, Malegaon and Modasa — used the event to meet his followers to finalise plans for the blasts.
The chargesheet said around half-a-dozen members of Aseemanand’s group reached the venue 10-12 days ahead of the start of the event on February 11, 2006. It also said people later exposed for their roles in the blasts — Sunil Joshi, Pragya Singh Thakur, Sandeep Dange, Ramji Kalsangra, Lokesh Sharma and Devendra Gupta — were among the organisers.
Of them, Joshi, a close follower of Aseemanand, was shot dead in December 2007 while Dange and Kalsangra are yet to be apprehended. Aseemanand was arrested from Haridwar last November.
But Manmohan Vaidya, national publicity chief of the RSS, said Aseemanand was only a member, not a leader, of the ‘Shabari Kumbh Mahostav Aayojan Samiti — the event’s organising committee. Admitting he used to lead an RSS-inspired group, Vaidya declined further comment as the matter is being investigated.
October 28, 2010
Gujarat was the hub for all the Hindutva terror attacks in Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Andhra Pradesh
Indian Express, Oct 27 2010
The Gujarat connection
by Kamaal Saiyed
While the blasts to “avenge the killings of Hindus” happened in (Ajmer) Rajasthan, (Malegaon) Maharashtra, and (Mecca Masjid) Andhra Pradesh, it is Gujarat — more specifically South Gujarat — that has emerged as a hub for the conspirators. It is from and to Gujarat that they kept flitting, while planning and plotting the conspiracy. Malegaon’s copycat blast, leading to a death near a mosque in Modasa, a North Gujarat town, had the Gujarat Police reportedly stonewalling the leads. The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has since taken over the probe.
The chargesheet filed by the Rajasthan ATS in the Ajmer 2007 blast case names two people linked to Gujarat: Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur, now in jail for her alleged role in the Malegaon blast, and Swami Aseemanand, now on the run. While Pragya’s family is based in Surat, it was Aseemanand who cultivated South Gujarat’s tribal region, stationing himself inThe Dangs in the 1990s to take on the Christian missionaries there.
A Bengali by birth, after a brief stint with the Ramakrishan Mission, Aseemanand entered Gujarat with a Sangh Parivar affiliate, Vanvasi Kalyan Ashram. He started work at Waghai in The Dangs, which became the hotbed of the anti-missionary movement. He was one of those who organised the Shabarikumbh Mela in 2006. It is at the mela, at Subir in The Dangs, that the key organisers, including Aseemanand, allegedly gave concrete shape to the plans to “avenge Hindu killings”, while reportedly networking with the Sangh Parivar affiliates in the state.
For Aseemanand, the location of the district was perfect for the execution of the plan: it borders Maharashtra, with a direct road link to Malegaon. It was in The Dangs that he had reportedly vowed that the “threat” from Islamic jehad and Christian conversion were the two challenges to the Hindu samaj and both need to be confronted. After Pragya’s arrest, he disappeared from the area.
The police say nobody has approached them in the case. Surat Range IG A K Singh, who is spearheading the Naxal-linked arrests in the state, particularly in South Gujarat, said, “We know that many investigating agencies are looking for Aseemanand for his involvement in the Ajmer and Malegaon blasts. He developed his base at the Shabari Mata temple in The Dangs. We have done our homework, he has not been spotted in the area for a long time. Nobody has sought our help to locate him.”
Aseemanand, fluent in Hindi, English, Gujarati, and the Dangi dialect, wooed the tribals arduously. According to sources, he is still in touch with his aides in Subir, and visited the area twice. But he no longer remains the trustee of the Shabari Sewa Samit Trust. The Trust, earlier presided over by Jayanti Kewat, a known saffron affiliate in the region, went in for a complete change a few months ago. Kewat, a resident of Navsari district, resigned, with new faces like the district’s first BJP MLA, Vijay Patel, Aseemanand’s close associate Kishor Gavit’s wife Nirmala taking up the office-bearers’ posts. Kishore had introduced Aseemanand to Vijay and other BJP leaders of the area. Now all of them plead ignorance regarding his whereabouts in South Gujarat and in Maharashtra’s Dhulia and Navapur — places he frequented. However, all of them speak of him with respect.
Said Kishor Gavit, “He came to Subir village. He is a genuine man, down to earth and polite. He addressed public meetings at different villages. It’s been a long time since I saw him in the Dangs.”
Cross over to Maharashtra, and in Navapur, a border town seven kilometres from Gujarat and 140 km from Malegaon, Aseemanand is a known name. “He was in Navapur only once, during Dussehra,” said Ganesh Wadnere, a Shiv Sena councillor of Navapur Nagar Parishad who heads the Rashtra Jagruti Seva Manch that hosted Dussehra celebrations in September 2008.
Nilam Pathak, a Navapur-based journalist, recalled that the Swami had told them how Pragya travelled “from Indore to the Shabarikumbh Mela on a motorbike, reaching in the dead of the night”. In Chitpada village in Dhulia, Maharashtra, Aseemanand was the chief speaker at the Hindu Adivasi Hit Raksha Morcha way back in May 2000.
The police, in The Dangs and Modasa, have no leads in the case, nor know of his whereabouts. In the Modasa blast case, the police have filed a summary, while the NIA has taken over material evidence for further testing in Delhi’s Forensic Science Laboratory.
The Gujarat connection
by Kamaal Saiyed
While the blasts to “avenge the killings of Hindus” happened in (Ajmer) Rajasthan, (Malegaon) Maharashtra, and (Mecca Masjid) Andhra Pradesh, it is Gujarat — more specifically South Gujarat — that has emerged as a hub for the conspirators. It is from and to Gujarat that they kept flitting, while planning and plotting the conspiracy. Malegaon’s copycat blast, leading to a death near a mosque in Modasa, a North Gujarat town, had the Gujarat Police reportedly stonewalling the leads. The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has since taken over the probe.
The chargesheet filed by the Rajasthan ATS in the Ajmer 2007 blast case names two people linked to Gujarat: Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur, now in jail for her alleged role in the Malegaon blast, and Swami Aseemanand, now on the run. While Pragya’s family is based in Surat, it was Aseemanand who cultivated South Gujarat’s tribal region, stationing himself inThe Dangs in the 1990s to take on the Christian missionaries there.
A Bengali by birth, after a brief stint with the Ramakrishan Mission, Aseemanand entered Gujarat with a Sangh Parivar affiliate, Vanvasi Kalyan Ashram. He started work at Waghai in The Dangs, which became the hotbed of the anti-missionary movement. He was one of those who organised the Shabarikumbh Mela in 2006. It is at the mela, at Subir in The Dangs, that the key organisers, including Aseemanand, allegedly gave concrete shape to the plans to “avenge Hindu killings”, while reportedly networking with the Sangh Parivar affiliates in the state.
For Aseemanand, the location of the district was perfect for the execution of the plan: it borders Maharashtra, with a direct road link to Malegaon. It was in The Dangs that he had reportedly vowed that the “threat” from Islamic jehad and Christian conversion were the two challenges to the Hindu samaj and both need to be confronted. After Pragya’s arrest, he disappeared from the area.
The police say nobody has approached them in the case. Surat Range IG A K Singh, who is spearheading the Naxal-linked arrests in the state, particularly in South Gujarat, said, “We know that many investigating agencies are looking for Aseemanand for his involvement in the Ajmer and Malegaon blasts. He developed his base at the Shabari Mata temple in The Dangs. We have done our homework, he has not been spotted in the area for a long time. Nobody has sought our help to locate him.”
Aseemanand, fluent in Hindi, English, Gujarati, and the Dangi dialect, wooed the tribals arduously. According to sources, he is still in touch with his aides in Subir, and visited the area twice. But he no longer remains the trustee of the Shabari Sewa Samit Trust. The Trust, earlier presided over by Jayanti Kewat, a known saffron affiliate in the region, went in for a complete change a few months ago. Kewat, a resident of Navsari district, resigned, with new faces like the district’s first BJP MLA, Vijay Patel, Aseemanand’s close associate Kishor Gavit’s wife Nirmala taking up the office-bearers’ posts. Kishore had introduced Aseemanand to Vijay and other BJP leaders of the area. Now all of them plead ignorance regarding his whereabouts in South Gujarat and in Maharashtra’s Dhulia and Navapur — places he frequented. However, all of them speak of him with respect.
Said Kishor Gavit, “He came to Subir village. He is a genuine man, down to earth and polite. He addressed public meetings at different villages. It’s been a long time since I saw him in the Dangs.”
Cross over to Maharashtra, and in Navapur, a border town seven kilometres from Gujarat and 140 km from Malegaon, Aseemanand is a known name. “He was in Navapur only once, during Dussehra,” said Ganesh Wadnere, a Shiv Sena councillor of Navapur Nagar Parishad who heads the Rashtra Jagruti Seva Manch that hosted Dussehra celebrations in September 2008.
Nilam Pathak, a Navapur-based journalist, recalled that the Swami had told them how Pragya travelled “from Indore to the Shabarikumbh Mela on a motorbike, reaching in the dead of the night”. In Chitpada village in Dhulia, Maharashtra, Aseemanand was the chief speaker at the Hindu Adivasi Hit Raksha Morcha way back in May 2000.
The police, in The Dangs and Modasa, have no leads in the case, nor know of his whereabouts. In the Modasa blast case, the police have filed a summary, while the NIA has taken over material evidence for further testing in Delhi’s Forensic Science Laboratory.
November 08, 2009
While BJP sinks, RSS is seen as expanding
[A Times of India report below, that picks up mostly what the RSS propaganda journal has to say in this regard.]
The Times of India
RSS service projectsmultiply ten-fold
TNN 4 November 2009, 07:58am IST
Print Email Discuss Bookmark/Share Save Comment Text Size: |
NAGPUR: It's political offshoot, Bharatiya Janata Party, may be in a disarray and desperately trying to get out of the knots it has tied for
itself. But the parent organisation and Hindutva fountainhead Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) can take immense pride in having spread its wings far and wide through its social service projects. Recording an impressive growth, the service units of the Sangh parivar grew ten times in little over one decade.
'Sewa Disha' a special journal published by RSS front organisation released to the media on Tuesday reveals that its service projects all over the country that numbered 15,063 in 1997 have grown into a massive network of 1,57,776 in 2009. The journal, published once in five years, gives full account of the service work done by the innumerable units of the Sangh parivar, said RSS spokesman Manmohan Vaidya.
The service projects are engaged mainly in four fields-- education, healthcare, social work and economic self-reliance. Of the total 1.5 lakh projects, nearly 40% or 59,498 are into imparting education. This work is mainly done through Vanvasi Kalyan Ashram (3147 units), Rashtriya Sewa Bharti (20,500 schools), Vishwa Hindu Parishad (25, 922 units), Vidya Bharti (9682) units, Rashtriya Sevika Sangh (149 units) and Akhil Bhartiya Vidyarthi Parishad (98 units). Similarly, 38,582 health-related units are being currently operated through mainly Seva Bharti, VHP, Bharat Vikas Parishad and Vanvasi Kalyan Ashrams. While the number of social projects that do village development to disaster management have now grown 42,304, economic activity is being executed through 17,392 projects, according to the journal.
Its in Kerala that the RSS projects have grown the most-- from 688 in 2004 to 8921 this year while Karnataka follows with 9662 projects, up from 2535 in five years ago. Practically every state has RSS presence through these projects. Special attention is paid to north-eastern states that are reeling under insurgency problem and in difficult terrains like jungles, hills and the strife-ridden Jammu and Kashmir to spread education and health in places where the government facilities are non-existent or neglected.
"I can tell my personal experience having been associated with such projects in Gujarat. At Deoghar village in Kutch, the Sangh shakhas have succeeded in eradicating vices like alcoholism and brought harmony by ending group rivalries among villagers," said Vaidya who worked for a long time in the western state. From basic education through 'Ekal Vidyalaya'( one-teacher schools) launched by the Pophali couple in Jharkhand to special projects for higher learning, research and promoting sustainable, organic farming the 'Seva' units are holding the RSS flag high across the nation, said Vaidya.
The Times of India
RSS service projectsmultiply ten-fold
TNN 4 November 2009, 07:58am IST
Print Email Discuss Bookmark/Share Save Comment Text Size: |
NAGPUR: It's political offshoot, Bharatiya Janata Party, may be in a disarray and desperately trying to get out of the knots it has tied for
itself. But the parent organisation and Hindutva fountainhead Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) can take immense pride in having spread its wings far and wide through its social service projects. Recording an impressive growth, the service units of the Sangh parivar grew ten times in little over one decade.
'Sewa Disha' a special journal published by RSS front organisation released to the media on Tuesday reveals that its service projects all over the country that numbered 15,063 in 1997 have grown into a massive network of 1,57,776 in 2009. The journal, published once in five years, gives full account of the service work done by the innumerable units of the Sangh parivar, said RSS spokesman Manmohan Vaidya.
The service projects are engaged mainly in four fields-- education, healthcare, social work and economic self-reliance. Of the total 1.5 lakh projects, nearly 40% or 59,498 are into imparting education. This work is mainly done through Vanvasi Kalyan Ashram (3147 units), Rashtriya Sewa Bharti (20,500 schools), Vishwa Hindu Parishad (25, 922 units), Vidya Bharti (9682) units, Rashtriya Sevika Sangh (149 units) and Akhil Bhartiya Vidyarthi Parishad (98 units). Similarly, 38,582 health-related units are being currently operated through mainly Seva Bharti, VHP, Bharat Vikas Parishad and Vanvasi Kalyan Ashrams. While the number of social projects that do village development to disaster management have now grown 42,304, economic activity is being executed through 17,392 projects, according to the journal.
Its in Kerala that the RSS projects have grown the most-- from 688 in 2004 to 8921 this year while Karnataka follows with 9662 projects, up from 2535 in five years ago. Practically every state has RSS presence through these projects. Special attention is paid to north-eastern states that are reeling under insurgency problem and in difficult terrains like jungles, hills and the strife-ridden Jammu and Kashmir to spread education and health in places where the government facilities are non-existent or neglected.
"I can tell my personal experience having been associated with such projects in Gujarat. At Deoghar village in Kutch, the Sangh shakhas have succeeded in eradicating vices like alcoholism and brought harmony by ending group rivalries among villagers," said Vaidya who worked for a long time in the western state. From basic education through 'Ekal Vidyalaya'( one-teacher schools) launched by the Pophali couple in Jharkhand to special projects for higher learning, research and promoting sustainable, organic farming the 'Seva' units are holding the RSS flag high across the nation, said Vaidya.
May 26, 2006
Dilip Singh Judeo at conversion of Sarnas
(The Telegraph
May 26, 2006
Front Page > Jamshedpur )
Families revert to old faith
OUR CORRESPONDENT
Dilip Singh Judeo washes the feet of the re-converted Sarnas. Picture by Prashant Mitra
Ranchi, May 25: Red-white flags, symbolising Sarna, today fluttered among saffron flags in the football grounds of Mahilong, a village under Tatisilwai police station, about 15 kms from the district headquarters.
There was a sense of celebration on the grounds today as more than 50 tribal men, women and children re-converted to Sarna from Christianity in the presence of BJP MP Dilip Singh Judeo.
Drumbeats and prayers by priest Makha Pahan took place as the re-conversion rituals began with the tribals washing Judeo’s feet.
Sunita Munda, a Class IX student, said her grandfather had converted to Christianity because of the fear of being seized by an apparition.
Meanwhile, a kilometre away from the football grounds, a small tribal group protested against the programme and blocked the Ranchi-Muri road for an hour.
Laxmi Narayan Munda, a Sarna leading the protesters, was not happy with Judeo’s presence in tribal life. He felt that the programme, sponsored by the BJP and the RSS, would divide the tribals.
“Had they done it on their own it would have been another matter,” he added.
The Sarna Sanatan Rakshak Samiti, a little known tribal organisation, had organised the “homecoming”.
The Vanvasi Kalyan Kendra, a voluntary organisation, and Kendriya Sarana Samiti, an old tribal organisation in the state capital, had extended its support.
Those who re-converted belonged to villages around 30 kilometres from Tatisilwai. Sarna Sanatan Rakshak Samiti workers had identified them over the past two months.
May 26, 2006
Front Page > Jamshedpur )
Families revert to old faith
OUR CORRESPONDENT
Dilip Singh Judeo washes the feet of the re-converted Sarnas. Picture by Prashant Mitra
Ranchi, May 25: Red-white flags, symbolising Sarna, today fluttered among saffron flags in the football grounds of Mahilong, a village under Tatisilwai police station, about 15 kms from the district headquarters.
There was a sense of celebration on the grounds today as more than 50 tribal men, women and children re-converted to Sarna from Christianity in the presence of BJP MP Dilip Singh Judeo.
Drumbeats and prayers by priest Makha Pahan took place as the re-conversion rituals began with the tribals washing Judeo’s feet.
Sunita Munda, a Class IX student, said her grandfather had converted to Christianity because of the fear of being seized by an apparition.
Meanwhile, a kilometre away from the football grounds, a small tribal group protested against the programme and blocked the Ranchi-Muri road for an hour.
Laxmi Narayan Munda, a Sarna leading the protesters, was not happy with Judeo’s presence in tribal life. He felt that the programme, sponsored by the BJP and the RSS, would divide the tribals.
“Had they done it on their own it would have been another matter,” he added.
The Sarna Sanatan Rakshak Samiti, a little known tribal organisation, had organised the “homecoming”.
The Vanvasi Kalyan Kendra, a voluntary organisation, and Kendriya Sarana Samiti, an old tribal organisation in the state capital, had extended its support.
Those who re-converted belonged to villages around 30 kilometres from Tatisilwai. Sarna Sanatan Rakshak Samiti workers had identified them over the past two months.
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