On May 9, the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) organised the ‘Hanumat Shakti Jagran’ campaign across Uttar Pradesh at around 10,000 spots. It is a part of their nationwide campaign against Congress’s poll promise to ban Bajrang Dal in Karnataka.
VHP members and supporters will gather at Hanuman temples as part of the campaign and recite religious hymns, including the “Hanuman Chalisa.”
VHP has selected one lakh venues nationwide for the ‘jagran’ events.
The national spokesperson of VHP, Vinod Bansal, said, “The organisational cadre has been asked to invite maximum number of people to attend the campaign. Being the biggest state, UP is extremely important to mobilise people.”
He states that the event will be hosted at all prominent locations, including Ayodhya’s Hanumangarhi temple.
It’s not the first time VHP has organised a nationwide ‘Hanumat Shakti Jagran’ campaign. In the early 1990s, during the peak of the Ram Temple movement and the controversy over the recognition of ‘Ram Setu’ in 2008, VHP organised a similar campaign.
Bansal asserted that the VHP would stop the Congress’s attempts to tarnish the image of Bajrang Dal, “Bajrang Dal follows the tradition of organising ‘bhajans’ at Hanuman temple on Tuesdays and Saturdays. But this will be a dedicated campaign to unite the devotees of Hanuman.”
This issue erupted during the release of Congress’s manifesto for Karnataka’s assembly elections starting on May 10. The manifesto was released on May 2, “We believe that law and Constitution is sacrosanct and cannot be violated by individuals and organisations like Bajrang Dal, PFI or others promoting enmity or hatred, whether among majority or minority communities. We will take decisive action as per law including imposing a ban on such organisations.”
After the release of the manifesto, it got severe backlash from everywhere. Even Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge was served a legal notice by VHP over the derogatory remarks made against Bajrang Dal in the party’s manifesto and was demanded to pay Rs 100 crore as compensation.
Vinod Bansal mentioned the role of Bajrang Dal in uplifting society, “Congress comparing Bajrang Dal with organisations like PFI which is banned in more than 100 countries is highly condemnable. On one hand, PFI is involved in terrorism, human trafficking and anti-national activities but Bajrang Dal talks about national unity, Vasudhaiv Kutumbakam and serves Humanity. The same Bajrang served humans during the harsh covid-19 crisis and have proved their worth to the nation in every natural or man-made disaster.”
The Joint General Secretary of VHP, Surendra Jain, mentions the role of Congress in supporting anti-Indian organisations such as PFI, “Congress comparing organisation that is dedicated to serving the people of the country with a terrorist organisation like PFI is highly condemnable. The Congress has always joined hands with the PFI and that is why the existence of Bajrang Dal hurts them. We have raised our voices against the ‘Sar Tan Se Juda’ gangs, and that is why they are calling for a ban on us.”
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Predictably Congress has tried to do some damage control, and now leaders are saying they will also construct temples for God Hanuman. But the Congress leaders will do well to recall what veteran A K Antony had said some years ago that the grand old party is now easily identified as a pro-Muslim and an anti-Hindu party.
In the 2019 polls, Congress played soft Hindutva, and the people of India did not fall into its trap. The attempt to describe Rahul Gandhi as a Shiv Bhakt was only mocked in more ways than one. The past actions count more than what a party says as a mere ‘damage control’ exercise.
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Equating Bajrang Dal with PFI is linked to efforts made by Congress leaders like Digvijaya Singh and Sushilkumar Shine in the past to try to raise the non-existing bogey of ‘saffron terror’. In all probability, the voters of Karnataka rising above caste and other differences will rise up to face the ‘monster of Muslim appeasement’.
It is pertinent to mention that Prime Minister Narendra Modi, during his public meeting at Hospet in Vijayanagara district on May 2, too had come down heavily on the Congress promise of banning Bajrang Dal, saying: “The Congress in its manifesto has decided to lock up Hanuman. Initially, they locked up Prabhu Shri Ram (Lord Ram). And now they want to lock up people who say ‘Jai Bajrang Bali’ (Hail Hanuman).”
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