[Reader-list] Is Indian democracy turning into a farce now?

[Rakesh Iyer]

Dear all

To look at how our society can be fooled in the name of identity, I give
another article, this on how the Bajrang Dal, one of the organizations of
the Sangh Parivar, is fooling a section of Indians, in the name of identity.
This seems to be an attempt to mimic those Pakistani mullahs who indulge in
similar activities to get people join the Taliban or like-minded
organizations.

Hope you read the article and understand the dangers of such activities on
young minds and on India and the world. And I hope we don't become like
them.

Regards

Rakesh

Link:
http://www.tehelka.com/story_main42.asp?filename=Ne270609national_defence.asp

*National Defence Academy*

*Generation Next is born at a Bajrang Dal camp in Delhi. **TUSHA
MITTAL**looks in at how the young are being inspired into violence.
Photographs by
**SHAILENDRA PANDEY*

*
*

A LOUD WHISTLE pierces the early morning silence at the Saraswati Bal Mandir
school in West Delhi. A steady stream of young boys in white shirts and *khaki
*half-pants filters down to the grounds. Yoga will begin sharp at 4:30am.
Karate, judo, nose punches will follow. At first glance, one could mistake
this for a boys’ summer camp. But a closer look, and something else emerges.
There are lathi pyramids, hoops of fire, gunshots and lessons about the
different stages of war. The boys must learn to jump through flames if their
houses are set on fire by “terrorists, Muslims, illegal immigrants,” must
know a gun intimately to use it for maximum impact. On their arms and
foreheads are bright orange bands with red imprints. For Sandeep Yadav, 15,
the son of a garment shop owner in Sarojni Nagar, the orange brings
motivation and a sense of belonging. “It charges me up to fight,” he says.


For what? “To protect *Bharat Mata.”* From what? “*Akraman”* (Attack). By
whom? He stammers. The English. The Australians. The Christians. The
Muslims. Probe his newly acquired worldview further and this surfaces:
“Hindu girls should not wear sleeveless clothes. That is what *Bharatya
sanskriti* (Indian culture) teaches us. And if a Hindu girl marries a
Muslim, her head should be chopped off and the Muslim man’s too.”


Welcome to the training camp of the Bajrang Dal, the youth sect of the
rightwing Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP). It is a weeklong camp held annually
to “instill courage within the Hindu youth and awaken them to their
patriotic duties,” says Ashok Kapoor, Bajrang Dal Delhi convenor. “We
prepare people to fight on the ground when the need arises,” adds Shailendra
Jaiswal, state co-convenor. “We choose them selectively. They must be Hindus
and in touch with our local party workers,” he says. The official age is 15
to 35. The 2009 camp concluded in June saw 100 participants. Most come from
some right-wing background (their parents are Bajrang Dal workers,
neighbours of workers, or perhaps they attend the morning yoga classes held
by the VHP in their colony). Yet, this is their first introduction to the
Bajrang Dal. Conversations with these children reveal not only how the Dal
views itself, but how it systemically indoctrinates its future
foot-soldiers. This camp is only the launchpad for a much longer journey.
Through the year, other camps with the larger mentor organisation RSS will
give the young tribe a chance to hone “intellectual concepts” — the focus
will shift from physical training to a more lucid sculpting of the mind.
Already, the first dents have been made.


Ask Vineet Kumar, 14, barely four feet tall, the son of a sports garments
factory worker, what is the Bajrang Dal? With a voice not yet cracked, he
answers in phrases – “Ram Setu, Ram Janambhoomi, Amarnath yatra, *hartal, *and
*chakka jam.”* According to him, “Pakistani terrorists” were trying to shut
down the Amarnath Yatra but the Bajrang Dal rallied every child in Jammu and
Kashmir on the streets to protest. At the camp, Vineet learnt a new word he
likes to thrust at every opportunity: *Virodh* (resist) — that is what he
wants to do when he grows up. Ask what he will *virodh* against and his eyes
wander, trying to distill the stew of textbook answers fed to him.


THERE WERE speeches: “Be weary of six M’s,” the boys were told from a
booming microphone. “Muslims, Missionaries, Marxists, Lord Macaulay, foreign
Media and Maino [UPA President Sonia Gandhi’s middle name].”


The warning of an apocalypse: *Kalyug* is upon us. The Muslims are taking
over the country by converting Hindus, by pretending to be Hindu and
marrying our women. Hindus will soon be extinct. Already the Muslims exceed
Hindus in India. We must remove the mullahs from our country. They kill our
*Gau Mata;* each cow has 2,300 *devis* inside her. (“We can’t trust Muslims,
they don’t even spare our cows, why will they spare us?” says Anil, 14, the
son of a vegetable vendor in Delhi.)


 ‘If a Hindu girl marries a Muslim boy, her head should be chopped off,’
says Sandeep, 15

There were revolutionary songs: *Hindu ke hit par janamu, hindu ke hit par
mar jaau *(Live and die for the well being of Hindus). *Ho jayo tayar
sathiyo, arpit kar do hazar balidan *(Get ready comrades for a thousand
sacrifices). Slogans: *Shastro mao jayathe! *(Long live the arms!) CDs with
proof: how the police beat up Dal workers trying to save the Amarnath land.


And when the young brigade was inspired enough, there were chants: *Ram Ram
chilayange, mullhe kate jaayenge.* (Screaming Ram’s name, we will cut the
Muslims). And lawyers to explain to the boys how they can avoid criminal
charges. No surprise that when the Guru asked, “How we will remove Muslims?”
the boys said in unison: “We will cut them up!”


And finally, there was advice for life: What should you do if your house is
attacked and you have no weapons? Use motorcycle chains. Bring out the gas
cylinder. Encircle the house with oil and light it on fire so the terrorists
can’t enter.


What should you do when Muslims move into your area? Find out their
background. Start up a friendship but don’t invite them home. Ask the women
if they have been forcibly married. Report to the police if they have. “The
Muslims in my lane are nice,” says Vineet. “They don’t force their wives to
wear the burqa and they allow their children to play. But other Muslims cut
up their wives and children if they step out of the house.” In their modest
Badarpur home in South Delhi, Vineet’s mother listens in shock. “I didn’t
know this is what they teach,” says Kumari Devi, wavering on whether she’ll
send him again next year. But it may not matter. Her son has already found
his mission in life — Hindu *Samaj Seva* (social work) — the way the Bajrang
Dal defines it.


**