Author: Hubert Vaz
Publication: The Indian Express
Date: May 19, 2003
Introduction: Seventy - one young
women attended the VHP's 'self - defence' camp at Juhu Scheme. Relax, they
used dummy weapons
This all-girls' summer camp at Juhu
is, well, different. The afternoon sun catches the glint on the swords.
The air whooshes as three girls bring their lathis down. In a formation,
a batch of 20 stands to attention-each holding up a wicked-looking dagger.
The Vishwa Hindu Parishad is teaching
them how to defend their religious and social rights.
It's got great attendance. There
are 71 girls and women between the ages of 15 and 35. One 18-year-old has
travelled all the way from Goa-alone. A camp for boys is being run by the
Bajrang Dal at Dombivili.
Last year's controversy over a suicide
camp run by a retired Colonel in Ambernath (65 km from Mumbai) and the
subsequent training camps is not even a blip on this camp's radar.
Asked how the VHP and Bajrang Dal
had swept last year's controversy over such camps so smoothly under the
carpet, VHP Mumbai president Ramesh Mehta pauses for thought. There are
no political connotations, he explains: "We are only training the youth
to be brave and better individuals, there is nothing wrong..."
The Vidyanidhi High School at Juhu
Scheme is on vacation. Within the premises the Durgavahini Camp, named
after the VHP's women's wing, is in full swing.
For Baby Gopal Naik, a Class XII
student from Goa, this is the first time. "I leamt about this camp from
a friend and after undergoing it, I realised my own potential. I've come
alone by train from Goa, something I could never do before."
Quite a few of the participants
come over and over again.
Like Manisha Pilankar, an electronics
engineer from Sindhudurg: "I attended this camp three years ago and am
now teaching the use of swords to others. The camp has made me brave and
confident and I can today train around 200 girls at a time."
The same goes for Pallavi Joshi,
a college student from Raigad: "I attended the camp a year ago and it has
made me so confident that I even won an all-India elocution contest. Earlier,
I used to be an introvert and scared of facing people. Today, I can defend
myself and others too."
Kishoritai Kolekar, a coordinator,
has been training girls in these camps for the last five years. When asked
why the use of weapons has not been excluded after the uproar a year ago,
she said:
"There has been no opposition to
this camp from any quarter and the girls have been selected from various
districts from those with a genuine urge to be trained. Besides, the weapons
used, like 'khadga' (swords), 'churika' (daggers) and 'dand' (lathis) are
only for self-defence, not for attack."
The swords and daggers are not sharp
and are mere dummies, she admitted, adding that they are used only to prepare
the girls to handle emergencies.
Pallavi Balekar, a commerce graduate
from Thane, and an expert in wielding a dand, gives her testimony: 'The
camp has made me extremely brave and confident. I have no problems interacting
with people now and I am confident of defending myself."
