Ever since, the Bajrang Dal has been working in the tribal areas of Gujarat, Chhattisgarh and Orissa, trying to woo Christians back into the fold of Hinduism. In cities, it routinely makes trouble—and news—as it goes about disrupting beauty pageants, roughing up couples on Valentine’s Day and digging up cricket pitches before India-Pakistan matches.

This ‘taskforce’ of the Sangh Parivar is now leading the agitation against Christians in Orissa. And in Karnataka, if there were any doubts about the Dal complicity in attacks on Christian prayer halls, state convenor Mahindra Kumar put them to rest by publicly owning up to them up. With the recent death of its two activists, Bhupinder Singh Chopra and Rajeev Mishra, who were making bombs in Kanpur, the group’s militant image has just grown stronger, as have the voices calling for a ban on the group.

THE ORGANISATION

It may lead mobs from the front but the Bajrang Dal still remains a shadowy figure. It doesn’t have a constitution, nor does it have a membership form. “There is no need for a recorded membership,” argues national convenor Prakash Sharma. “Everyone who considers himself a Hindu is a member of the Bajrang Dal and anyone who has participated in any of our programmes is our active member.” He puts the number of active members at 10 lakh. “In any case, the VHP enrolls its well-wishers (hit-chintaks) every year,” he says.

The Dal has a national convenor and a co-convenor but no general secretaries, secretaries, treasurer, national executive or even a smaller apex body for decision-making. “We are a constituent of the VHP and we don’t feel any need for an organisation within an organisation or a separate constitution. We have informal discussions among ourselves and then seek the advice of VHP leaders,” says Sharma. All appointments are made by the VHP, which takes crucial decisions.

... contd.