Despite the biting cold winds blowing over Rajasthan, hundreds of VHP workers are silently moving into villages, organising religious meets and making fiery speeches with renewed vigour. Their motivating factor: To four times multiply the number of satsangs and akhadas run by them and to ‘‘awaken the Hindu spirit’’. At the VHP headquarters in Jaipur, strategies are being drawn up to fan out across Rajasthan and convince all Hindus to unite. ‘‘We want to unite all Hindus, just like in Gujarat. We want a similar Hindu enlightenment in Rajasthan,’’ says state VHP spokesperson Mahavir Prasad Parikh. Their campaign began early this week at Phagi, 60 km from Jaipur. After the usual speeches at a dharam sabha, trishuls were distributed and hundreds were made to take an oath of allegiance to the concept of a Hindu Rashtra. VHP not sole guardian of Hindus’ rights, says Ayodhya mahant Gangasagar (WB): Chief of Nirvani Akhara in Ayodhya Mahant Gyan Das on Monday charged VHP leaders Pravin Togadia and Ashok Singhal with dividing people on communal lines and said that the outfit was not the only representative of Hindus. The VHP leaders were ‘‘propagators of dividing the people on communal lines’’, he said. ‘‘Hindu means all the citizens of India and not just those following Hinduism as a religion.Hinduism has been aptly defined in the 18 Puranas and the four Vedas,’’ the mahant said asking ‘‘who has given VHP the right to redefine it.’’ The mahant said ‘‘people who believe in the ideology of ‘an eye for an eye’ cannot be the followers of any religion.’’ — PTI State authorities said they had no grounds to stop the distribution of the small but sharp trishuls, as these don’t come under the Arms Act. The VHP has set a target of distributing about one lakh such trishuls by the year-end. In Jaipur, VHP workers are working overtime to replicate the ‘‘success’’ of Phagi. ‘‘We have got instructions to do so,’’ said a VHP worker. ‘‘It has been decided to increase our numbers. If Gujarat can do it, so can we.’’ A recent government report warns of increasing religious fundamentalism in Rajasthan. According to the report, trishul distribution programmes and an increasing number of religious rallies to protest ‘‘minor incidents’’ are a precursor of things to come. ‘‘A powder keg waiting to explode’’ is how the situation is described in Bhilwara, Banaswada, Ajmer and Alwar. The report adds that in 2002, the VHP distributed trishuls to over 10,000 people at Banaswada, Udaipur and Bhilwara. The report mentions another trend: More and more people are joining celebrations organised by the Sangh during festivals like Ganesh Chaturthi, which are traditionally not celebrated in Rajasthan. At present, the VHP has over 1,000 projects running in Rajasthan, from 350 satsang mandalis to over 250 single-teacher schools. Banaswada is the hub of its activities. Bordering Gujarat, this district is the nerve centre from where the Sangh is spreading out. The Sangh has plans to set up its second base in Ajmer. And in Beawar, it wants to step up its reconversion programme, as the region has a sizeble population of Mehrat Cheetah Muslims. In Pushkar, too, a drive is on to bring more people into the Hindu fold. The RSS is less vocal about its plans for this year. ‘‘All our programmes will continue as usual,’’ a senior member says. ‘‘The last really big state-level programme we had was in 2000. There is no such event planned for this year. The fact that this is an election year does not really concern us,’’ says RSS in-charge of Jaipur Anil Kant. But they all admit there is a new vigour with which even old programmes are being implemented. The VHP says polarisation along communal lines in Rajasthan is inevitable, the RSS line for the moment is that it shouldn’t happen and the ruling Congress is confident it wouldn’t let it happen. Meanwhile, the BJP has kicked off its election campaign and, as for now, is content taking on the Congress government on the drought-front and caste tensions between Jat and Rajput communities. Its recruitment drive will begin on January 15 and party workers are, for the moment, focusing on the Gaon Chalo Abhiyan. In the Congress camp, proposed rallies and programmes are being rescheduled, as the future of CM Ashok Gehlot is more under the scanner.
