VHP functionary Sanjay Kumar Pandey said the yatra’s main purpose was to awaken the Hindus and to organise them for the larger cause in the face of the onslaught on their religionThe Bihar Police have cancelled all leaves from September 28 to October 8 in view of a yatra of Bajrang Dal and Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) to raise awareness over the “larger design” behind attacks on Sanatana DharmaIn a letter on Tuesday to district police chiefs, the state’s additional director general (law and order) said the leaves were cancelled to maintain law and order when the Bajrang Dal and VHP are due to organise the Shourya Jagran Yatra in Bihar. The yatra is being held nationwide, including in Bihar, Jharkhand, Uttar Pradesh, the letter added
Tamil Nadu minister and Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) leader Udhayanidhi Stalin’s comments earlier this month that Sanatana Dharma should be eradicated” triggered an uproar. DMK is a key constituent of the Opposition Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA), which includes Bihar’s ruling parties Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Bharatiya Janata Party have been attacking the INDIA bloc saying it wants to destroy Sanatana Dharma.Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Bharatiya Janata Party have been attacking the INDIA bloc saying it wants to destroy Sanatana Dharma VHP functionary Sanjay Kumar Pandey said the yatra’s main purpose was to awaken the Hindus and to organise them for the larger cause in the face of the onslaught on their religion and faith as part of a design. “Sanatana Dharma has faced many challenges and it has only emerged stronger each time
VHP s national spokesman Deo ji Bhai Rawat said that the yatra is also dedicated to brave warriors who lost their lives while fighting for the nation against China and Pakistan. He added many such fighters belonged to BiharIn March, violence during Ram Navami processions left one person dead and several others injured at separate places in Bihar. Police named Bajrang Dal functionary Kundan Kumar as the mastermind of the violenceThe Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) and the Bajrang Dal on Thursday announced their plan to resume on August 28 the Jalabhishek Yatra in Nuh that was abandoned midway on July 31 after violence broke out between Muslims and Hindus who had gathered in the area in large numbers
Nuh deputy commissioner Dhirendra Khargata and Narendra Bijarniya, Nuh’s superintendent of police, said they were yet to receive an application for the march. The former said the administration would look at the situation closer to the date of the yatra before deciding on allowing itjeet Singh, president, VHP, Gurugram, said that on July 31 there were over 3,500 people who participated in the yatra but that on August 28, there will be much more. “We have invited our counterparts from Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan and Gujarat to be part of the yatra to show our strength and presence. We have no intention to create any violence but we will be well prepared this time,” he said
Although an annual affair for at least the last three years, this year’s yatra was different. Many Muslims who live in the area, which does not usually see communal clashes, were upset at what they saw as the administration’s apathy in apprehending Monu Manesar, a cow vigilante accused in the February lynching of two Muslim cattle traders from neighbouring Rajasthan (Nuh is part of the Mewat region that spans parts of the two states). Manesar himself posted videos on social media ahead of the march that seemed to suggest he would be presentIt has since emerged that some Muslims in the area mobilised reinforcements from Rajasthan and also guns, stones, and bottles to attack the procession, which was also a show of strength with at least some of the marchers armed with guns and swords.
Layla