'Twenty-three years after it was banned following the demolition of the Babri Masjid in Ayodhya, the Bajrang Dal on December 6 this year renewed its pledge for a Ram temple at the mosque site. The anniversary of the demolition is technically a day of “valour” (Shaurya Diwas) for the Hindutva outfit. This year, however, Shaurya Diwas wasn’t subdued as in many past years. There were elaborate press releases and there was heightened activity on right-wing Twitter handles in support of a grand Ram temple in Ayodhya.
'From all accounts, Superintendent of Police Pankaj Choudhary played a stellar role in ensuring that three deliberately crafted incidents of violence in Nainwa and Khanpur in Bundi district, Rajasthan, didn’t turn into a bloody communal riot. Among the measures he took was to arrest 11 activists of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad and the Bajrang Dal.
'Bajrang Dal will observe the 23rd anniversary of the Babri mosque demolition on Sunday as “Shourya Divas” (Valour Day). While the organisation has been observing the day all these years, the context of the recent death of Ashok Singhal, leader of the VHP, its parent organisation, and the Sangh Parivar’s reiteration of its commitment to build a Ram temple as the “true” tribute to him, has made the event, otherwise “routine”, acquire greater symbolic importance...
'For all its rhetoric, the two-day special discussion in Parliament on “Commitment to the Constitution” has done little to dispel the concerns of civil society over growing intolerance. But it should be no surprise, for in his earlier avatar as chief minister of Gujarat, Narendra Modi has a record of disclaiming knowledge of such a warning even from one of his own trusted police officers.
'A Muslim barber refused to shut shop “as per custom”, triggering a riot by indignant members of the Hindu community at Nelliyadi village, 70 km from Mangalore, in Karnataka on Tuesday. Though the violence was brought under control a few hours after it erupted around 4 pm, dozens of people were injured and property worth lakhs destroyed in the melee. Bajrang Dal leader Ravi Ballya told HT that the trouble started when the barber, Salman, refused to “respect local sentiments” and keep his shop shut on Tuesdays. “It is well-known that Hindus don’t cut their hair on Tuesdays.
'Ranchi witnessed city-wide violence following a bandh called by the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) Saturday. The police, however, ensured the situation did not spiral out of control. The bandh call was given following communal violence in the Lower Hinoo locality Friday night. An unidentified youth and the cameraperson of a news channel were injured in Saturday’s violence. Police spokesperson and ADG (Operations) S N Pradhan said 65 people had been detained, but no arrests had been made...
'The murder of a Bajrang Dal activist has made Karnataka tense . The Hindutva groups are calling it "revenge" for the lynching of a Muslim in distant Dadri, UP, for allegedly eating beef. Prashant Poojary, 29, was killed in Moodabidri, Dakshina Kannada, on 9 October, according to reports. Poojary had actively worked to close slaughterhouses in the district. He was allegedly murdered by six people who came on motorcycles, wearing masks and wielding knives. It was on the cards, perhaps.
'A day after a Muslim youth was beaten to death in Himachal Pradesh for allegedly smuggling cattle for slaughter, the Vishwa Hindu Parishad and its sister organization the Bajrang Dal are mulling a massive 'anti-cow slaughter' drive in the communally sensitive western UP districts. VHP's district president for Shamli, one of the flash points of the Muzaffarnagar riots, Subhash Malik, told TOI, "There are around 2,000 illegal slaughterhouses in Kandhla and Kairana blocks of Shamli alone. A large number of people settled here came after the Muzaffarnagar riots of 2013.
'At a time when Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar said that Muslims can live in India only if they give up eating beef, reports of lynching of a man in Himachal Pradesh for alleged cow smuggling emerged on Friday. Merely weeks after the disturbing Dadri lynching incident shook the nation, suspected Bajrang Dal activists lynched a man from Uttar Pradesh at a village near Shimla over allegations of cow smuggling, alleged the victim's relative, according to Hindustan Times...'
"Denying allegations that the Mangaluru City police were forced by right-wing activists to get women out of a party, the city police commissioner, S Murugan said that the organisers did not have the necessary liquor permission. According to a Hindustan Times report, Mangaluru police forced women dancing at a discothèque of a three-star hotel to leave on Saturday night, allegedly at the behest of the Bajrang Dal.
