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Bajrang Dal (Hindi: बजरंग दल, English: Bachelor Team) is the youth wing of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP), and one of the family of organizations (Sangh Parivar) based on the core ideology of Hindutva. Founded on October 1, 1984 in Uttar Pradesh, India, it has since spread throughout India. The group claims to have 1,300,000 members, of whom 850,000 are workers, and runs about 2,500 akhadas (similar to the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh's shakhas). "Bajrang" is in reference to the Hindu deity Hanumān. Image File history File links Unbalanced_scales. ... Hindi (हिन्दी) is a language spoken mainly in North and Central India. ... The English language is a West Germanic language that originates in England. ... The Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP; World Hindu Council in Hindi), is a Hindu nationalist organisation in Bharat, an offshoot of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh. ... The Sangh Parivar is a loose family of organizations, which promote the ideology of Hindutva. ... For Veer Savarkars book Hindutva, see Hindutva. ... is the 274th day of the year (275th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1984 (MCMLXXXIV) was a leap year starting on Sunday (link displays the 1984 Gregorian calendar). ... , Uttar Pradesh (Hindi: , Urdu: , translation: Northern Province, IPA: ,  ), [often referred to as U.P.], is the most populous and fifth largest state in the Republic of India. ... An akhada is a congregation in a military Hindu monastic order. ... The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (Hindi: , English: ), also known as the Sangh or the RSS, is a Hindu nationalist organization in India. ... Hinduism (known as in modern Indian languages[1]) is a religious tradition[2] that originated in the Indian subcontinent. ... For the Tamil movie by same name see Anjaneya (film). ...

The Bajrang Dal's slogan is "सेवा सुरक्षा संस्कृति" ('sevā surakṣā saṃskṛti'), or "service, safety, and culture". An integral part of its agenda is preventing the slaughter of cows. One of the Dal's goals is to liberate the Ramjanmabhoomi temple in Ayodhya, the Krishnajanmabhoomi temple in Mathura and the Kashi Vishwanath temple in Kashi (Varanasi), which are currently disputed places of worship. Another goal is to protect India's Hindu identity, from the perceived dangers of Muslim population growth, Christian conversions, and anti-national communists. Its members were centrally involved in the demolition of Babri Mosque, one of thousands of mosques built by muslim invaders after breaking down ancient Hindu temples throughout the Indian subcontinent. Babur, the islamic invader built this mosque upon the exact spot of Rama's historical birthplace after invading Ayodhya, this mosque was destroyed in December 1992. Ram Janmabhoomi is a location in the Indian city of Ayodhya which is believed by Hindus to be the birthplace of the god Rama. ... Ayodhya   (Hindi: अयोध्या, Urdu: ایودھیا IAST Ayodhyā) is an ancient city of India, the old capital of Awadh, in the Faizabad district of Uttar Pradesh. ... Temple at the birthplace of Krishna Krishnajanmabhoomi, which means the birth-place of Krishna, is a temple built on the birthplace of Krishna (an avatar of God Vishnu) in Mathura, India. ... , Mathura   (Hindi: मथुरा, Urdu: متھرا) is a holy city in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. ... , VārāasÄ« ( , Hindi: , IPA: ), also known as Benares, Banaras, or Benaras ( , Hindi: , , IPA: ), or Kashi or Kasi ( , Hindi: , ), is a famous Hindu holy city situated on the banks of the river Ganges (Ganga) in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. ... , VārāasÄ« ( , Hindi: , IPA: ), also known as Benares, Banaras, or Benaras ( , Hindi: , , IPA: ), or Kashi or Kasi ( , Hindi: , ), is a famous Hindu holy city situated on the banks of the river Ganges (Ganga) in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. ... A Hindu ( , Devanagari: हिन्दु), as per modern definition, is an adherent of the philosophies and scriptures of Hinduism, and the religious, philosophical and cultural system that originated in the Indian subcontinent. ... South Asia has three large nation states that constituted the former British India (now India, Pakistan and Bangladesh). ... Christian Conversions Religious conversions refers to the shift in the pattern of worship. ... A view of the Babri Mosque, pre-1992. ... Rama ( in IAST, in DevanāgarÄ«) or Ramachandra is a legendary or historical king of ancient India. ... Ayodhya   (Hindi: अयोध्या, Urdu: ایودھیا IAST Ayodhyā) is an ancient city of India, the old capital of Awadh, in the Faizabad district of Uttar Pradesh. ...

Origin

In October 1984, the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) initiated the practice of regular processions to be held in Ayodhya in the state of Uttar Pradesh. These processions were called "Ram-Janaki Rathayatra" and were aimed at "awakening the society". While the VHP did not officially claim any anti-religion drivers for this practice, some sections of the society in India viewed this as a pro-Hindu movement. As a result, there was an environment of communal tension and threat surrounding this procession. Under these circumstances, 'holy saints' (members of VHP) called upon the youth to protect the procession, thus the Bajrang Dal was formed. Eventually, most of the members of Bajrang Dal have come to be very proud of the group and the group now has members outside of Uttar Pradesh as well. Year 1984 (MCMLXXXIV) was a leap year starting on Sunday (link displays the 1984 Gregorian calendar). ... The Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP; World Hindu Council in Hindi), is a Hindu nationalist organisation in Bharat, an offshoot of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh. ... Ayodhya   (Hindi: अयोध्या, Urdu: ایودھیا IAST Ayodhyā) is an ancient city of India, the old capital of Awadh, in the Faizabad district of Uttar Pradesh. ... , Uttar Pradesh (Hindi: , Urdu: , translation: Northern Province, IPA: ,  ), [often referred to as U.P.], is the most populous and fifth largest state in the Republic of India. ...

Ideology and Agenda

Among the goals of the Bajrang Dal in modern India is a reversing of the invasions by Muslim conquerors and the British Empire. They include demands to convert disputed historical monuments into temples . ^[1]. The Bajrang Dal asserts on its website that they are neither communal or divisive. In particular, they say ^[2] The British Empire in 1897, marked in pink, the traditional colour for Imperial British dominions on maps. ...

"The Bajrang Dal is not against any religion. It acknowledges respecting the faith of other people, but expects and asserts for a similar respect of the Hindu Sentiments. Being Hindu, the Bajrang Dal believes in validity of All Religions and Respect for all human beings, irrespective of caste, color, and religion (Aatmasvat Sarva Bhuteshu). It is for this purpose that the Bajrang Dal has undertaken various public-awakening campaigns. It does not believe in violence or any unlawful activity."

In addition, Bajrang Dal said they would circulate five million handbills, giving details about the activities of Christian missionaries. Bajrang Dal national convenor Surendra Kumar Jain today said the outfit would “peacefully” expose questionable means adopted by some Christian bodies to convert poor people under a world evangelical plan that specially targeted Hindu-majority India ^[3]. Topics in Christianity Movements · Denominations Ecumenism · Preaching · Prayer Music · Liturgy · Calendar Symbols · Art · Criticism Important figures Apostle Paul · Church Fathers Constantine · Athanasius · Augustine Anselm · Aquinas · Palamas · Luther Calvin · Wesley Arius · Marcion of Sinope Pope · Archbishop of Canterbury Patriarch of Constantinople Christianity Portal This box:      A Christian () is a person who...

Bajrang Dal, together with the Vishwa Hindu Parishad, has spoken out against Islamic Terrorism in India and have announced that they will carry out awareness campaigns across the nation. They have alleged that Islamic terrorists are hiding among the general population in India and mean to expose them^[4].Bajrang Dal convener Prakash Sharma stressed that they were not targeting any particular community, but were trying to "wake up" the people of India, particularly the youth, to the dangers of terrorism in the light of the 2002 Akshardham Temple attack allegedly perpetrated by Islamic terrorist outfit Lashkar-e-Toiba^[5]. The Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP; World Hindu Council in Hindi), is a Hindu nationalist organisation in Bharat, an offshoot of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh. ... Islamist terrorism, sometimes called Islamic terrorism, is terrorism that is carried out to further the political and religious ambitions of a segment of the Muslim community. ... Also see: 2002 (number). ... The Akshardham Temple attack (or Akshardham Temple siege) occurred on September 24, 2002 when two heavily armed Muslim terrorists arrived at the Akshardham in Gandhinagar, the capital of Western Gujarat state in India at around 1630 hrs local time. ... Lashkar-e-Toiba (Urdu: لشكرِ طيبه laškar-ĕ ṯaiyyiba, literally The Army of Pure, also transliterated as Lashkar-i-Tayyaba, Lashkar-e-Tayyaba, Lashkar-e-Tayyiba or Lashkar-i-Toiba) is one of the largest and most active Islamic terrorist organizations in South Asia. ...

Bajrang Dal also share VHP's position against the slaughter of cows (regarded as sacred animals in Hinduism) and have protested against organizations like the "Communal Harmony forum" for opposing proposed bans on bovine slaughter, calling their stand as an anti-Hindu one.^[6]. Hinduism (known as in modern Indian languages[1]) is a religious tradition[2] that originated in the Indian subcontinent. ... Anti-Hindu leaflet launched by fundamentalist Christian churches Anti-Hindu prejudice is a negative perception against Hinduism, Hindus and Indian or Hindu culture. ...

Controversies

• In January 1999, allegations were made that "militants" belonging to Bajrang Dal attacked and killed a missionary and his two sons. The missionary, Graham Staines, was an Australian and had been working with leprosy sufferers for a period of 34 years. Staines' sons, Philip and Timothy (aged 10 and 8 respectively) were sleeping in a jeep when they were burnt to death." The Bajrang Dal denounced the Christian missionary, claiming they use pressure on poor people to convert to Christianty and turn them against Hindus. ^[7]. However, Bajrang Dal spokespeople assert that they were not involved in the incident. The investigation finally revealed that the murders were carried out by a Dara Singh as well as 12 other perpetrators. Dara Singh is an active sympathizer of the Bajrang Dal, but involvement of the Bajrang Dal has been ruled out in the planning and executing of the crime.^[8] Bajrang Dal national convenor Surendra Kumar Jain had written to the widow of Graham Staines, conveying the outfit's anguish at the gruesome death of her husband and their children in Orissa's Keonjhar district. The Dal chief said he wrote to her saying that the outfit was not behind the killings, though they are opposed to missionary activities.^[9]

"We do oppose the activities of the Missionaries because we think they dupe the poor into embracing their religion by allurements and false promises of faith healing,"^{[citation needed]} Graham Stuart Staines (d. ... For the malady found in the Hebrew Bible, see the article Tzaraath. ...

In particular, journalist and right wing sympathetic author Arun Shourie has written an analysis claiming that the entire incident is a smear campaign against Bajrang Dal by Christian Missionaries ^[10]. Arun Shourie Arun Shourie (born 1941) is a prominent journalist, author, and politician of India. ...

• Human Rights Watch alleges that Bajrang Dal had been involved in riots against Muslims in the 2002 Gujarat violence[1].

• In April 2006, two Bajrang Dal activists were killed in nearby Nanded in the process of bomb making. The same group of activists were also suspected for perpetrating the 2003 Parbhani mosque blasts. ^[11]. NDTV subsequently accused the police of a coverup in Nandhed^[12] A report by the Secular Citizen's Forum & PUCL, Nagpur claimed to have found maps of mosques at the home of one of the deceased. ^[13]

• Bajrang Dal has also been suspected for the 2006 blasts at Malegaon, though investigators have commented that it is too early to speculate and have also pointed to Islamist terror outfit Lashkar-e-Toiba as suspects^[14][15].There is presently no evidence that points to Bajrang Dal's involvement in the bombings ^[16]. The most recent arrests regarding this incident (on October 30, 2006) involved members of the Students Islamic Movement of India^[17]. As of that date, the Islamist groups are prime suspects.

• The VHP leader, Praveen Togadia, was arrested in April 2003 after distributing tridents to Bajrang Dal activists in Ajmer defying ban and prohibitory orders. Togadia asserted that the coming Assembly polls in the Indian state of Rajasthan would be fought on the issue of tridents and attacked the ruling Congress Party for "placating" Muslims for electoral gains. He expressed satisfaction at the publicity received due to the incident^[18].
• The Bajrang Dal has been accused of not allowing Muslims to own land in parts of Gujarat by attacking traders who sell to Muslims and by attacking Muslim homes and forcing the sale of the house or flat. This creates a ghettoisation of large cities in Gujarat, like Ahmedabad and Vadodara.^[19]
• Bajrang Dal has also received criticism from moderate Hindu Nationalist organizations such as the Hindu Mahasabha, who have criticized the group for it's extremist measures. Bajrang Dal has been criticized for adopting the same violent methods as the Islamic Fundamentalists in their attempt to curb the spread of Islamic terrorism, a move deemed by the Mahasabha to be counterproductive^[20].In addition, the Bharatiya Janata Party leaders have also come out in criticism of Bajrang Dal.BJP member and former prime minister of India Atal Bihari Vajpayee said that the Bajrang Dal "only embarrassed the BJP" and urged the Sangh Parivar to "rein them in"^[21].

Human Rights Watch Banner Human Rights Watch is a United States-based international non-government organization that conducts research and advocacy on human rights. ... The skyline of Ahmedabad filled with smoke as buildings and shops are set on fire by rioting mobs. ... Nanded (Devanagari- नांदेड) is a sikh holy city, located on the banks of river Godavari in Maharashtra India. ... Parbhani, earlier also known as “ Prabhavatinagar ”, is a city in the Marathwada region of Maharashtra state in central India. ... The 2006 Malegaon bombings were a series of bomb blasts that took place on 8 September in Malegaon, a town in the Nashik district of the Indian state of Maharashtra, located at some 290 km to the northeast of state capital Mumbai. ... Lashkar-e-Toiba (Urdu: لشكرِ طيبه laÅ¡kar-Ä• ṯaiyyiba, literally The Army of Pure, also transliterated as Lashkar-i-Tayyaba, Lashkar-e-Tayyaba, Lashkar-e-Tayyiba or Lashkar-i-Toiba) is one of the largest and most active Islamic terrorist organizations in South Asia. ... is the 303rd day of the year (304th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2006 (MMVI) was a common year starting on Sunday (link displays full 2006 calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... The Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI) was formed in Aligarh, Uttar Pradesh state, in April 1977. ... Islamism is a political ideology derived from the conservative religious views of Muslim fundamentalism. ... , Rājasthān (DevanāgarÄ«: राजस्थान, IPA: )   is the largest state of the Republic of India in terms of area. ... , Ahmedabad (Gujarati: , Hindi: अहमदाबाद ) is the largest city in the state of Gujarat and the seventh-largest urban agglomeration in India, with a population of almost 51 lakhs (5. ... “Baroda” redirects here. ... Hindutva (Hinduness, a word coined by Vinayak Damodar Savarkar in his 1923 pamphlet entitled Hindutva: Who is a Hindu? ) is used to describe movements advocating Hindu nationalism. ... Akhil Bharatiya Hindu Mahasabha, a Hindu nationalist organization originally founded in 1915 to counter the Muslim League and the secular Indian National Congress. ... The phrase Islamic fundamentalism is primarily used in the West to describe Islamist groups. ... The Bharatiya Janata Party [BJP] (Hindi: , English: ), created in 1980, is a major Indian political party. ... This biographical article does not cite any references or sources. ... The Sangh Parivar is a loose family of organizations, which promote the ideology of Hindutva. ...

List of presidents

• Vinay Katiyar
• Jaibhan Singh Pawaiya
• Dr. Surendra Jain
• Prakash Sharma (current president)

Vinay Katiyar is a BJP politician from the state of Uttar Pradesh in India. ... Jaibhan Singh Pawiya became the second president of the [[Bajrang Dal in India after Vinay Katiyar and was suceeded by physician Surendra Jain. ... Some information in this article or section is not attributed to sources and may not be reliable. ...

See Also

Rohit Vyasmaan Rohit K. Vyasmaan (Born August 20, 1970 in New Delhi,India) is the head of the American branch of Hindu youth organisation Bajrang Dal. ...

References

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External links

• Official Bajrang Dal website
• Report of Human Rights Watch referring to the role of Bajrang Dal in Gujarat 2002 Riots