PM speech in Karnataka to slugfest in Delhi, rare prime spotlight for Bajrang Dal now

A youth outfit of the VHP, the Bajrang Dal was formed in the heady days of the Ramjanmabhoomi agitation, when the VHP was scouting for numbers to bolster the movement and felt the need for a youth outfit. So, while both the VHP and BJP are part of the Sangh Parivar, the Bajrang Dal is technically a wing of the VHP.

Addressing a press conference in Delhi, BJP national spokesperson Sambit Patra called the Congress promise of action against the Bajrang Dal an attempt to “save the Popular Front of India (PFI)”, an outfit banned by the Modi government, by “insulting Lord Hanuman”. The Congress has done so in Karnataka, where Hanuman is believed to have been born, Patra said. “Karnataka ki bhoomi Hanumanji ki bhoomi hai (Karnataka is the land of Lord Hanuman).”

The Congress manifesto says the party is committed to taking action against individuals and organisations such as the Bajrang Dal and PFI which “spread hatred” in the name of caste or religion.

The Congress party manifesto is not just a pamphlet of mere assurances. It is a blueprint of future governance.

We perform and we deliver !

Let us join hands for change.
Let us join hands for a better Karnataka.

Vote for Congress

📍Bhalki pic.twitter.com/RlduHZlGxf

— Mallikarjun Kharge (@kharge) May 2, 2023

The Congress reacted saying it was the PM who had hurt religious sentiments of devotees by “equating Lord Hanuman with the Bajrang Dal”, and demanding an apology from him. Congress spokesperson Pawan Khera said: “The Prime Minister is insulting our faith in Lord Hanuman. He should apologise to the country… No one has given him the right to insult Bajrang Bali.”

Vinay Katiyar, among the founder leaders of the Bajrang Dal, said: “The Congress has no capacity to ban us, neither will they get this power. But we have such strength that we can eliminate the Congress from the entire country.”

The Bajrang Dal came into shape at a meeting held in Lucknow in October 1984, where both VHP head Ashok Singhal and Katiyar, his associate and former Varanasi mahanagar pracharak, were present. Katiyar suggested to Singhal that the VHP should have its own youth organisation to work among youngsters.

After Singhal gave the green signal, the consensus was that the name of the outfit should reflect its association with the Ram temple movement. Finally, Bajrang Dal was picked, as homage to Hanuman or Bajrang Bali, the most trusted devotee of Lord Ram.

The Bajrang Dal adopted the slogan “Ram kaaj keenhe bina, mohi kahan vishram (I will not take rest without fulfilling the cause of lord Ram)”. And its motto was ‘Service, Security and Sanskar.’

Katiyar was made the convenor of the Bajrang Dal in Uttar Pradesh. When it spread its work to other states, Katiyar was named the national convenor.

The BJP had just survived the 1984 Lok Sabha elections at the time, where it had been reduced to 2 seats, and lacked both enough cadre as well as leaders. For organisational support, it was dependent on the RSS and its frontal organisations like the ABVP. Even several religious personalities were fielded as BJP candidates.

कांग्रेस पार्टी के अमंगल विचार…

पहले ‘जय श्रीराम’ के नारे से नफरत और अब ‘जय बजरंगबली’ के नारे पर प्रतिबंध! pic.twitter.com/hcuen9MuAK

— Sambit Patra (@sambitswaraj) May 2, 2023

So, leaders like Katiyar were also assimilated by the BJP. In 1991, 1998 and 1999, he won as the party’s Lok Sabha MP from Ayodhya, and was named to the Rajya Sabha twice. In 2002, he was made the UP president of the BJP.

Katiyar’s successor at the Bajrang Dal, Jaibhan Singh Pavaia, was fielded from Gwalior by the BJP.

Both in October-November 1990, and later on December 6, 1992, the Bajrang Dal played a key role in the mobilisation of kar sevaks in Ayodhya. While the first mobilisation was halted after firing by the police, the Babri Masjid was pulled down by the kar sevaks in 1992. Katiyar was one of the accused in the mosque demolition case.

Even as the Ram temple movement took the BJP to new heights, outfits like the VHP and Bajrang Dal which had once played a frontal role in this gradually receded to the background. Many hold a grudge against the BJP for using and then letting them fall by the wayside.

The sidelining further accelerated under the Narendra Modi-Amit Shah dispensation, with the BJP under their total control.

Now, while the Bajrang Dal continues to operate, it is actually on the fringes of the Sangh, and has no known faces as leaders. Its present national convenor is Neeraj Doneria from Agra.

Its members now make news for assaults taking the law into their own hands, especially in the name of “cow vigilantism”. Apart from “cow protection”, the Bajrang Dal’s stated aims include working for renovation of religious places; and against social evils like dowry and untouchability; insult of Hindu symbols, traditions, conventions, beliefs; “vulgarity” in TV ads and beauty contests; and illegal infiltration.

Every August 14, the Bajrang Dal organises ‘Akhand Bharat Sankalp Diwas’. It also holds Hanuman Jayanti, Hutatma Smriti Diwas and Shourya Diwas (on December 6, the day the Babri Masjid was demolished).

In Karnataka, the Bajrang Dal is frequently at the heart of incidents of communal tension, and its members have been booked in various cases of assault.

Bajrang Dal and Vishva Hindu Parishad supporters participate in a procession ahead of Hanuman Jayanti festival in Gurugram. (PTI)

In March this year, six of its members were booked for disrupting a Holi party held in Mangaluru. The same month, members of the outfit disrupted a ‘Ladies night’ event in Shivamogga, saying it was against Hindu culture.

Bajrang Dal workers were blamed for the murder of 19-year old Masood near Sullia in July last year. Praveen Nettaru, a BJP Yuva Morcha worker, was killed in retaliation, leading to tension in the area.

The same month, a group of Bajrang Dal workers were accused of disrupting a party at a Mangaluru pub and chasing out students.

Modi’s remarks projecting an attack on the Bajrang Dal as that against Lord Hanuman come at a time when BJP leaders mostly distance themselves whenever the Bajrang Dal’s name comes up regarding a controversy.

At its Shaurya Prashikshana Varga organised in the communally sensitive Kodagu district, the Vishva Hindu Parishad’s youth wing taught its cadres shooting and also gave them trishuls. (File)

The RSS too often distances itself from the outfit, saying it has no relation with it. The Bajrang Dal is not invited to RSS meetings.

However, Katiyar himself enjoyed warm relations with the top BJP leadership at one point. Speaking to The Indian Express, he recalled that former PM Atal Behari Vajpayee would often address him jokingly, saying, “Kaho Bajrang Bali!”

The VHP announced a protest outside the party’s Delhi office over its manifesto. Calling the Bajrang Dal a “nationalist” organisation, the VHP said the Congress had defamed it by “comparing it with the PFI, an infamous anti-national, terrorist and banned organisation”.

In a video message, VHP joint general secretary Surendra Jain said the Bajrang Dal will take the Congress’s promise as a challenge and give a reply in “democratic ways”.