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Bajrang Dal dares govt to ban it

9 Oct 2008, 1330 hrs IST, IANS

NEW DELHI: Bajrang Dal, the youth wing of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad
(VHP), has dared the Indian government to ban it, warning that the
authorities will face the "consequences" if it was outlawed.

"We will fight the ban and we will go to the people to explain the
injustice done to us. The elections are coming up soon and it (a ban)
will prove costly for the government," Prakash Sharma, national
convenor of the Bajrang Dal, said.

The Hindu group has in recent weeks been accused of targeting
Christians and vandalising churches in Orissa and Karnataka. A far
more serious charged hurled at the group in recent times has been
making bombs with a view to attack Muslims.

Sharma denied that Bajrang Dal members had anything to do with the
violence in Orissa, where 35 Christians, mostly poor villagers, have
been killed in a series of violent incidents sparked by the gunning
down of a Hindu leader.

"Bajrang Dal does not believe in violence of any kind. Our aim is ...
public agitation by mobilising democratic governments to protect
Hindus," Sharma maintained.

He accused the media of portraying the Bajrang Dal negatively. "Are
newspapers competent enough to tell the truth? They print anything,"
said Sharma.

Besides Muslim organisations, mainstream politicians too have started
demanding a ban on the Bajrang Dal, whose members are known to resort
to violence at the slightest perceived insult to Hindu religion. Its
members often take to the streets brandishing tridents and khukris.
Its ideology is virulently anti-Muslim and anti-Christian.

Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar is the latest Indian politician to
seek a ban on the Bajrang Dal, which takes its name after the Hindu
god Hanuman or Bajrang Bali.

The group has been linked to a bomb blast in August 2006 at Nanded in
Maharashtra where two people were killed. Apparently, its members were
making bombs when one or more exploded. A similar incident occurred in
August this year in Kanpur.

"The person involved in the Kanpur incident used to be with Bajrang
Dal 10 years ago. By that analogy, the Congress should also be banned.
Their minister ... was caught for the 1993 serial blasts in Surat and
now he has been jailed for 20 years," said Sharma.

Sharma is unapologetic about the Bajrang Dal's role in "reconversions"
in Orissa -- making Hindus who became Christians embrace Hinduism
again.

"What is reconversion? We are making them return to where they were
before. This is 'ghar wapasi' (coming back home), and we are doing it.
And it is legal," argued Sharma.

Despite talk of banning the Bajrang Dal, the group is planning to
launch its silver jubilee celebrations from this month.

"There will be 'yagya' and 'havan' in Ayodhya Oct 13. It will be a
religious event," Sharma said.

The Bajrang Dal, formed in 1984, played a big role in the events
leading to the demolition of the Babri Masjid in Ayodhya in December
1992, which led to widespread Hindu-Muslim violence in the country.

On Wednesday, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, presiding over a cabinet
meeting, said the government needed to have a "foolproof case" if
Bajrang Dal needed to be banned.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/India/Bajrang_Dal_dares_govt_to_ban_it/articleshow/3577380.cms