At exactly 7.30am, two short blasts on a whistle pierced the tranquillity of
the Delhi park and 40 men in white shirts, khaki shorts and black caps stood
to attention before the saffron flag of the Indian Hindu nationalist
movement.
First came 15 minutes of drills. Then they marched through the capital,
carrying bamboo sticks and chanting to the beat of a drum, to mark the 83rd
anniversary of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, the movement's oldest and
biggest group.
Finally, they performed a prayer ritual in front of an altar bearing
marigolds, images of Hindu deities, two swords, a rifle and a pistol.
“No pictures of the weapons, please,” said Ravi Prakash, the owner of a
handicraft export business, who also heads the local chapter of the RSS. It
was said in the nicest possible way, yet his simple request spoke volumes
about an organisation that helped millions of homeless Indians after
Partition but also trained the man who killed Mahatma Gandhi.
Now the RSS and its offshoots stand accused of orchestrating a wave of
violence against Christians, mainly in the eastern state of Orissa, opening
a new chapter in India's long struggle with Hindu radicalism.
The RSS and its main sister groups - the Bajrang Dal and Vishwa Hindu Parishad
- say that they campaign peacefully to rid India of the legacies of foreign
invasions and to establish a Hindu state. Their leaders deny involvement in
last month's bloodshed, which the Roman Catholic Church says left 60
Christians dead and 50,000 others homeless. “How can you say Hindus are
involved?” Prakash Sharma, the Bajrang Dal chief, asked. “How can you be
sure Christians are not killing each other?”
Such is the evidence against them, however, that the Government is now
discussing imposing a ban on Bajrang Dal, which claims 1.5 million members,
for the first time since 1992. Manmohan Singh, the Prime Minister, called
the Orissa violence a “national shame” last week after criticism from the
European Union and the United States. “We are a secular state. We are a
multireligious, multicultural nation,” he said. The Indian National
Minorities Commission has also called for a ban.
The problem is that the “Hindutva” movement is now so large (the RSS claims
eight million members, the VHP 6.8 million) and so decentralised that it can
easily sidestep any ban.
The RSS has been outlawed, briefly, three times - in 1948 after Gandhi's
murder, in the Emergency of the 1970s and in 1992 after its supporters
demolished the Babri mosque. The movement also encompasses hundreds of other
organisations, including the Bharatiya Janata Party, the main national
opposition party, which co-leads the Orissa state government.
The ruling Congress party, therefore, fears that outlawing one would only
spark trouble from another, as well as rally support for the BJP before
parliamentary elections due by May. When the Cabinet met on Wednesday to
discuss the ban, it could not reach a decision and dispersed, saying that it
needed more evidence.
There is no shortage of evidence in Orissa, according to victims and rights
groups. Chandrika Digal, 22, whose mother is a Christian and father a Hindu,
says that she was raped by up to 20 men who broke into her grandparents' hut
on September 19. She said her attackers told her repeatedly that she was
being raped because a Christian uncle had refused to become a Hindu. “They
belonged to RSS. Here there is no difference between RSS, VHP, Bajrang Dal,”
she told a nun caring for her, who translated her testimony for The Times.
John Dayal, president of the All-India Catholic Union, says that he has
accounts from dozens of other victims in Orissa who have identified their
attackers as Bajrang Dal members. “They wear bands around their heads, they
carry [tridents] ... and wave saffron flags. They shout slogans identifying
themselves as Bajrang Dal. They are the storm troopers of the RSS,” he said.
The RSS and its allies put blame for the violence on Western-funded Christian
missionaries, who they say have bribed and coerced poor Hindus into
converting. “They were trying to convert our Hindu religion into
Christians!” one RSS activist at the Delhi parade shouted when the Orissa
killings were mentioned. “They started it by taking Western money to convert
poor Hindus. So our people stopped them!”
HOLY WAR
— The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (National Self-Reliance Society, or RSS)
Hindu fundamentalist group holds sway over India's largest opposition party,
the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)
— The RSS was founded in 1925 to promote Hindu nationalism; its most
notorious moment came in 1948 when a former member shot and killed Mahatma
Gandhi
— Marauding mobs aligned to the BJP and supported by the hardline Hindu
group the VHP (Vishwa Hindu Parishad, or World Hindu Society) are alleged to
have burnt Christians alive, gang-raped a nun and destroyed more than 140
churches and orphanages
Why do Christians from Western Countries need to convert in the first place? Is it because nobody is listening to them back home. The numbers attending Churches are shrinking in the West and therefore they look to developing countries to boost their numbers, by preying on poor people .
Kamal , Leicester , UK
Hitler borrowed the famous Swastika symbol which represents nazi ideology from India. Why are people supprised about how Hindu extremists treat Christians, Muslims and even their own Hindu "untouchables"?
Mohammed, London, UK
It is the "English Media" world over who are right . It is a ploy to blame the organizations who has no track record of any violence against its citizens. Those who have loyalty to their faith and look to Vatican and Mecca for their "nods" is the root cause of violence in India. Read Indian history
Dr.M.N.Ambekar, Singapore, Singapore
These violent fascist organisations such as vishva hindu parishad exist in uk in cities like london,leicester and raises colossal amount of money for their evil mission of suppressing religious communities in india.It's time we banned their activities.Hindus living in west are not as innocent asseem
nafeesa, dewsbury, uk
western media and politicians turned a blind eye to these Hindu fascist and extremist organisations like BJP,VHP and RSS for quite a long time.They were putting importance of trade before importance of humanrights/religiousrights when dealing with India.Thsese fascists are killing muslims all same.
Elias, Batley, Uk
christians have been killing each other for centuries... christianity/ christism is an inferior religion as we all know.
Sam, Overland Park, USA
RSS is a fascist organisation and is a vanguard of BJP, a major Indian political party. Previously, only muslims were their target but now Christians are also in firing line with scores kille. Have people forgotten how a Christian missionary and his two youngs sons were burnt alive ? Time to condemn
John Taylor, London,
It is indeed a despicable and atrocious act being committed by a few groups of individuals, who are, in my opinion, wrongly aligned with organizations like the RSS and VHP. Would you brand the Vatican a terrorist organization if i attacked mosques claiming to be a christian missionary?
Y, Mumbai, India
THis is unfortunate fact that the media in general is controlled by the people standing for myth(experts in Goebalism) or the affluent culprit itself. And the have-nots martyrs of truth, the silent workers of Hindu Dharma(read it Indian linage) never had time for media.We have to still wait for it
V Vainateya, London, UK
When any organisation calling itself Hindu causes violence, it is opposing the core value of this religion..and that is to embrace, not strangle. Hindus are tolerant, they are open, and yet remain true to their beliefs. This has sustained us since ages. Our god does not demand...we give freely.
D, Leeds, United Kingdom
As being part of RSS, I feel all of the above is pure ignorance and is only speculation of information where no facts have been presented. People fail to realise when the media is presenting facts and opinions. We must all look at the other side of the story, or are we too narrow minded?
Prit, Leicester, UK
I have the impression that India is a very violent country and that there is little control over the situation.
Marco, Kraków, Poland
The biggest lie is that India is a 'Hindu country'. The majority of the population is Buddhist. Hindus conveniently claim buddhism is a part of hinduism. This lie will be exposed soon as the next prime minister is going to be Mayawati- a buddhist. Hindus will soon have to learn to accept change.
ric, birmingham, UK
The condescending attitude amoung Hindu nationalists is that the poor will only convert to Christianity due to force or allurement, and they are too gullible or stupid to realise what they are doing simpy for better economic prospects. Maybe they just want to be seen as equals in the eyes of man.
Jacob, London, UK
RSS was formed by followers of Hitler fascist communal guru golwalkar and savarkar(Staunch supporters of EVIL Hindu's caste sytems),RSS and its political wing BJP wants to re-impose deadly Hindu caste systems by undemocratic means.It is nothing but divisive fascist force.
kranti, LONDON, UK
oh...its not very often that the true face of india is revealed, every few years minorities in india are targeted and the killers and rapists allowed to go scot free. this is the true 'incredible india' a nation of killers who hide behind the cloak of secularism
M fazlur Rahman, karachi, Pakistan
Yeah, the Christians are killing each other. Right. And what other fairy tale would you tell us?
Bob, Clarksburg, WV, USA
If there was ever a need for some police brutality it would be now.
James, Sheffield, England