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 leading spirit behind its formation was Swami Chinmayananda; the founding religious leaders included Tenzin Gyatso, the 14th Dalai Lama. It was founded in 1964. Its slogan is "Dharmo rakshiti rakshitah", or "By defending what is righteous, you will be protected." Its symbol is a banyan tree. Hindi (हिन्दी) is a language spoken in most states in northern and central India. ... A Hindu is an adherent of Hinduism, the predominant religious, philosophical and cultural system of Bharat (India). ... Nationalism is an ideology that creates and sustains a nation as a concept of a common identity for groups of humans. ... ... The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh is a Hindu nationalist movement which bases itself on the principles of Hindutva. ... Swami Chinmayananda (स्‍वामी चिन्‍मयानन्‍द) (1916-1993) was born Balakrishna Menon (Balan) in Ernakulam, Kerala in a very devout Hindu family. ... Tenzin Gyatso is the fourteenth and current Dalai Lama. ... The 14th and current Dalai Lama, Tenzin Gyatso (born 1935) The 13th Dalai Lama, Thubten Gyatso (1876-1933) In Tibetan Buddhism, the Dalai Lamas are a sequence of leaders, since 1391, from the Gelug (dge lugs) school. ... 1964 was a leap year starting on Wednesday (link will take you to calendar). ... This article is about the tree. ...

History

The growth of the Movement to ban cow slaughter in the late 1950s and early 1960s, gave rise to the VHP. Senior members of the RSS organized the Parishad to primarily achieve the construction of a Ram Mandir, at the disputed site of the Babri Mosque in Ayodhya, Uttar Pradesh. The Lord Rama of the Ramayana is a highly revered incarnation of the Lord Vishnu, and the site where the abandoned mosque stood is considered his historic birthplace, or Janmbhoomi. RSS is an abbreviation for: RSS, a group of XML based web-content distribution and republication (Web syndication) formats primarily used by news sites, weblogs (blogs), and podcasts. ... Ram Janmabhoomi refers to one of the most contentious tracts of land in the Indian subcontinent. ... Ayodhya (अयोध्या) is an ancient city of India, the old capital of Awadh, in the Faizabad district of Uttar Pradesh. ... Uttar Pradesh (Hindi: उत्तर प्रदेश, Urdu: اتر پردیش), also popularly known by it acronym UP, is the fifth largest and the most populous state in India. ... This article is about a Hindu incarnation of God (i. ... Lord Ram, Laxman, Sita and Hanuman(crouching) The Ramayana (Sanskrit: march (ayana) of Rama) is part of the Hindu smriti, written by Valmiki. ... For other uses of the name Vishnu, see Vishnu (disambiguation). ...

Sarsangh Chalak of RSS 'Guruji' M.S. Golwalkar entrusted the responsibility of creating a front to voice the concerns of the hindu society to Shivram Sanaukar Apte. Apte contacted 600 distinguished personalities through correspondence, personally contacted about 200 thinkers, philosophers, and leading persons of various sects. In addition he contacted about 40 organisations and persons working outside India. A meeting was proposed by these personalities to discuss the idea and take it ahead. Accordingly, a meeting was held at Paw, Sandipani Sadhanalaya, Bombay, on the occasion of Sri Krishna Janmashtami on 29th - 30th of August 1964. Madhav Sadashiv Golwalkar, popularly known as Guruji was the second sarasanghachalak of Rashtriya Swayam Sevak Sangh. ... This article or section should be merged with Mumbai Mumbai (previously known as Bombay) is the worlds most populous conurbation, and is the sixth most populous agglomeration in the world. ... Lord Krishna Krishna (कृष्ण, Sanskrit for black), is, according to common Hindu tradition, the eighth avatar of Vishnu. ... Janmashtami (जन्माष्टमी) is a celebration of the birth of Lord Krishna the eighth avatar (incarnation) of Vishnu, and every ritual in the celebration of this auspicious occasion is associated with various phases of his life, which have been immortalized in both the religious and the folk literature. ...

It was decided at the meeting that the name of the proposed organisation will be Vishva Hindu Parishad and that a world convention of Hindus be held at Prayag (Allahabad) during Kumbha Mela of 1966 to launch the organisation. It was further decided that it shall be a non-political organisation and that no office bearer of any political party shall be simultaneously an office bearer in the Parishad. The following aims and objectives were set before the Parishad. Map of India. ...

1. To consolidate and strengthen the Hindu Society.

2. To protect, promote propagate Hindu values of life, the ethical and spiritual in the context of modern times

3. To keep in touch with all the Hindus living abroad, and to organise and help them in all possible ways in protecting their Hindutva.

Growth and the 1980s

For over 20 years, the VHP conducted peaceful demonstrations, petitions and tried by litigation to liberate the Ram Janmabhoomi. The Babri mosque was in a dilapidated condition and not used for worship or any religious activity by the city's Muslims. For years the VHP amassed public support and a broader membership in its organization. In 1984, it founded the Bajrang Dal as its youth wing (Bajrang being the word for the Lord Hanuman, the most loyal disciple and follower of the Lord Rama}. Bajrang Dal members were more militant in their attitude and activities. Other arms of the VHP, including Sewa International expanded charities and service projects such as alleviating poverty-struck Hindus, opening schools and hospitals, spreading religious and cultural awareness, and actively working against the proselytizing efforts of Christians and Muslims, which were taking away numbers of poor, ignorant and lower caste Hindus. Executive President Prime Minister The Union Ministries Legislative Parliament Rajya Sabha Chairman of the Rajya Sabha Lok Sabha Speaker of the House Judicial Supreme Court Chief Justice of the Supreme Court High Courts District Courts Constitution Fundamental Rights and Directive principles Regions States and territories Elections General Elections State Assembly... Lord Hanuman In Hinduism, Hanuman is a vanara who aided Rama (an avatar of Vishnu) in rescuing his wife, Sita, from the Rakshasa king Ravana. ...

In the late 1980s, the BJP brought the temple issue to the centerstage of national politics, and the BJP and VHP began organizing larger protests in Ayodhya and around the country. But the issue was continually ignored by fractious coalition governments and the secular-socialist Congress Party, as well as the courts. BJP could mean one of Indias largest political parties, the Bharatiya Janata Party British Journal of Photography British Journal of Psychiatry British Journal of Pharmocology This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists other pages that might otherwise share the same title. ...

The Ram Janbhoomi Mandir Crisis

On December 6, 1992 the Babri Masjid was demolished by a large congregation of protestors who had been camping in the city for weeks. December 6 is the 340th day (341st on leap years) of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1992 is a leap year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

Shockwaves of anger, terror and fear swept through the Hindus and Muslims of Bharat. Over 10,000 Muslims and Hindus were killed across the country in the resulting violence.

An enquiry commission headed by Justice Liberhann was constituted to investigate the whole episode. A large number of VHP workers testified before the commission.

Why did the VHP suddenly abandon its peaceful methodology? It represented and tapped the increasing frustration of the vast numbers of Hindus across the country, who felt the natural culture, traditions and values of the majority of people were being ignored, and secular Westernized culture was being promoted to comfort the Muslim and Christian minorities. While Hindus were continously criticized for the terrible ills of the caste system and untouchability, no efforts to restrict mass and coerced conversions to Islam and Christianity were being prevented. While fundamentalist Islam was on the rise in the world, and separatist movements spread from Kashmir and Punjab to Assam and Tripura no voice was being given to common Hindus by their own Government, who felt under seige to forced conversions, alien culture and continuous criticism from secular Hindus. When the Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi changed the Constitution to overturn a Supreme Court verdict granting full divorce and alimony rights to a Muslim woman, Shah Bano, in order to calm Muslim conservatives, many Hindus felt a sense of inequality mixing with the defense of minorities. The existence of a mosque at the site of the birth of the Lord Rama, was a symbol of the oppression of Hindus over 1,000 years of Muslim rule and it extended for millions of Hindus in this age after independence. Traumatized by the partition of the country in 1947, when over 10 million Hindus and Sikhs were forced to leave their homes in what became Muslim Pakistan and Bangladesh, they could not stand an on-going marginalization in their own country. Rajiv Gandhi (राजीव गान्धी) (August 20, 1944 – May 21, 1991), the first son of Indira and Feroze Gandhi, was the Prime Minister of India from his mothers death on October 31, 1984 until his resignation on December 2, 1989 following the general election defeat. ... The Shah Bano case is infamous in India and has generated political controversy in the country; it is seen as an example of appeasement of the vote bank for political gains. ...

The New VHP

On June 21, 1995 the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Tribunal squashed the ban on VHP. After the lifting of sanctions against the organization, a new VHP emerged, a more radical and vigorous organization. The VHP leaders claimed their mission was to guard and defend the entire Hindu faith and communities all over the country. The VHP today speaks out against conversions, cow slaughter, the special status of Muslim-majority Kashmir, Pakistan-sponsored terrorism, Islamic fundamentalism, the Shah Bano case and the separate personal law system for Muslims in Bharat. It demands that Catholics stop pledging their allegiance to a foreign Pope, and join an Indian church or "return to Hinduism." Thousands of VHP activists, termed Karsevaks, Ramsevaks are permanently deployed in large encampments outside Ayodhya, called Karsevakpuram and Ramsevakpuram. June 21 is the 172nd day of the year (173rd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar, with 193 days remaining. ... 1995 was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... The Shah Bano case is infamous in India and has generated political controversy in the country; it is seen as an example of appeasement of the vote bank for political gains. ...

More vigorous, activist campaigns followed intensive litigation to claim the mosque site. An extremely tense situation developed when at the 10th anniversary of the mosque demolition, the VHP wanted to perform a shila daan ceremony at the disputed site. Thousands of activists swarmed the city streets, and thousands of police and paramilitary forces were deployed in response. The crisis was diffused in a diplomatic fashion allowing the VHP to fulfill its aims without actually using the disputed site or inflaming passions excessively.

But the very next month the 2002 Gujarat riots were sparked off. Inflammed by the killing of 59 activists in a train fire in Godhra, set off by a Muslim mob, the Hindu mobs responded by attacking Muslims statewide. The state's Chief Minister Narendra Modi was accused of neglecting his duty to secure the people, and he and the VHP's Praveen Togadia made statements justifying the riots. The VHP's activists were accused of actually organizing attacks on Muslim neighborhoods. The VHP to this day calls the riots a "natural reaction" to the Godhra violence. 2002 Gujarat violence refers to a series of riots and other incidents of mob violence that occurred in the Indian state of Gujarat in 2002. ... Narendra Damodardas Modi (born September 17, 1950, Gujarat, India) is the Chief Minister of the state of Gujarat in India since October 7, 2001. ... Praveen Togadia is the currently serving International General Secretary of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad, and is one of their most forceful, radical, vocal, controversial and firebrand leaders. ... Godhra is a town in Gujarat, India. ...

The Agenda

Continually criticizing its political ally, the BJP for acting too slowly on the Ram temple issue, conversions and a uniform civil code, the VHP demands legislation from Parliament authorizing the temple construction, and the proclamation of a Hindu Rashtra, literally the "Hindu Nation," in Bharat, leaving the politicians to explain it as a statement of cultural nationalism and not a plan to deny Muslims fundamental rights and freedoms.

The VHP says Bharat has historically been a Hindu nation, in culture, heritage and history. Islam was brought by foreign invaders who imposed and coerced it upon millions of Hindus (corroborated by many historic acts of temple destruction, pogroms and mass conversions); Christian missionaries brought in Christianity when the Spanish, French and the British colonized the land. It is a fact that Christian missionaries often denigrated and demonized the Hindu religion to coerce native peoples into converting. While working to convert Christians, tribal peoples and Muslims to Hinduism, the VHP states that all Muslims and Christians were Hindus in the first place, and that all citizens of Bharat are naturally Hindus.

The VHP demands are broadly as follows:

• Creation of Ram Temple at Ram_Janmabhoomi
• End of forcible conversions by christian missionaries and Islamic institutions.
• Ban on cow slaughter.
• Declaration of India as a Hindu Rashtra, literally Hindu Nation.
• Tougher Anti-terror laws and tougher penalties for terrorists.
• Implementation of a Uniform Civil Code.
• Revocation of Article 370 of the Indian Constitution.
• Erasure of Casteism from the hindu society.

The stated goals of the organization are as follows: Ram Janmabhoomi refers to one of the most contentious tracts of land in the Indian subcontinent. ... Hindu Rashtra is to some what Bharat already is or what Bharat should be: a Hindu nation, culturally or politically. ... Uniform civil code is a term originating from the concept of a civil law code. ...

1. To consolidate, strengthen and make invincible the global Hindu fraternity by following the eternal and universal life values based on Sanatan Dharma and work for total welfare of humanity on the basis of the unique cultural ethos of Bharatvarsha.
2. To promote activities of education, medical aid and relief to the poor or any other activity in the advancement of general public utility for furtherance of literature and scientific and socio-religious research.
3. There shall be no discrimination on the grounds of religion, sex, caste, race or colour at any time amongst the beneficiaries of the Association.
4. For fulfillment of above-mentioned objects if any activity is carried out which requires money to be collected in the form of sales, charges for boarding and lodging, distribution of books, literature etc., then the prices and charges will be such that as far as possible they will not yield any profit.

Organization and Leadership

The Bajrang Dal is the youth wing of the VHP, and it is organized in many states in major training camps called shakhas, where thousands of young men simultaneously train in group activities, receive religious and cultural education and in many cases, self-defensive arms training. The Durga Vahini is the female arm of the Dal.

The VHP organizes in community meets and shakhas throughout the country. Its national organization is democratic, with an International Working President and an International General Secretary as their most important executives. However, only seasoned, senior leaders control the seats on the Central Council which will elevate men to the varying posts.

The Dharma Sansad is literally a religious parliament, a gathering of Hindu seers, scholars and high priests from all over the country. They rule on policy and principles and advise the executive on social and cultural questions.

The VHP and its religious parliament have no recognition in Hindu religion or society. The religious parliament is by no means the central authority of Hinduism, as the Vatican City and the Papacy is to Catholicism. The VHP is an independent, modern organization of a socio-cultural nature, but also many political activities. It has many active branches in North America, South East Asia and East Africa, where large numbers of Hindus live. It is engaged in many social development activities in hundreds of villages in different parts of the country, helping in their economic alleviation and cultural revitalization. This article needs to be cleaned up to conform to a higher standard of quality. ... The Pope is the Catholic Bishop and patriarch of Rome, and head of the Roman Catholic Church and the Eastern Catholic Churches. ... This article considers Catholicism in the broadest ecclesiastical sense. ...

Despite its organizational strength and prominence in key issues, the VHP only reaches a small segment of the gigantic Hindu population in Bharat and worldwide, which exceeds 1 billion. It cannot be considered the representative of the vast and diverse Hindu society.

While elderly leaders like Acharya Giriraj Kishore and Ashok Singhal led the VHP from the 1970s, the reins of the organization in the 21st century seems to be passing to a younger, radical and vigorous generation, headed by Praveen Togadia, a Gujarati oncologist. Togadia is already infamous for organizing the 2002 Ayodhya stand-off and defending the Hindu mobs and Chief Minister Narendra Modi during Gujarat's 2002 riots. While he has already been detained several times by police, Togadia is actually banned from speaking in several districts of several states of the country, owing to his talent of provoking tensions and sensitivities. Praveen Togadia is the currently serving International General Secretary of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad, and is one of their most forceful, radical, vocal, controversial and firebrand leaders. ... Narendra Damodardas Modi (born September 17, 1950, Gujarat, India) is the Chief Minister of the state of Gujarat in India since October 7, 2001. ...

Place in History and the Future

With the rise of Islamic fundamentalism in the 1980s, and the presence of a worldwide Christian proselytizing culture, the VHP is the Hindu response, fundamentalist and defensive. While appropriate and justified to represent and defend over 1 billion Hindus in Bharat and throughout the world from extremism of other communities, its politicization and role in many violent and tragic communal conflicts has claimed the lives of innocent Hindus, Muslims and Christians, and it has more than once perilized the peace, order and future of the World's Largest Democracy.

See also

• Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh
• BJP
• ethnic conflict in India
• Sushil Kumarji
• Hindutva
• Bajrang Dal

The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh is a Hindu nationalist movement which bases itself on the principles of Hindutva. ... BJP could mean one of Indias largest political parties, the Bharatiya Janata Party British Journal of Photography British Journal of Psychiatry British Journal of Pharmocology This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists other pages that might otherwise share the same title. ... This article needs to be cleaned up to conform to a higher standard of quality. ... Acharya Sushil Kumarji Maharaj (Guruji -- June 15, 1926 - April 22, 1994) was a Jainist Acharya. ... 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. ... Executive President Prime Minister The Union Ministries Legislative Parliament Rajya Sabha Chairman of the Rajya Sabha Lok Sabha Speaker of the House Judicial Supreme Court Chief Justice of the Supreme Court High Courts District Courts Constitution Fundamental Rights and Directive principles Regions States and territories Elections General Elections State Assembly...

External links

• Official Website of VHP