Author: Archis Mohan
Publication: Business Standard
Date: June 26, 2014
URL: http://www.business-standard.com/article/politics/vhp-to-push-sangh-agenda-as-part-of-50-yr-celebrations-114062501339_1.html

VHP plans to mark its golden jubilee celebrations by taking its messages of nationalism, anti-cow slaughter and anti-religious conversions across the country

The Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP), along with the Bajrang Dal and the Durga Vahini, claims to have played a key role in mobilising support for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) during the 2014 Lok Sabha elections. Now, these outfits, particularly the VHP, hope to leverage the favourable government at the Centre to increase their national profiles and widen the organisational network.

 The VHP, founded on August 29, 1964, plans to mark its golden jubilee celebrations this year by taking its messages of nationalism, anti-cow slaughter and anti-religious conversions to every corner of the country. As part of the celebrations, it is planning shobha yatras (processions) in important cities and towns to showcase its "glorious history", including its contribution to the anti-cow slaughter movement of the mid-60s and the Ram Janmabhoomi movement of the 80s and 90s.

 Sources in the Sangh Parivar said the processions would exhort people to support construction of a bhavya, or grand, Ram temple at Ayodhya and revive the demand for temples at the so-called Krishna Janmabhoomi in Mathura.

 The VHP's celebrations are aimed at assisting the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government at the Centre to "undo" the ills brought about by the policies of earlier governments. After NDA's victory, VHP leader Ashok Singhal had identified construction of a Ram temple in Ayodhya, adoption of a uniform civil code and an end to cow slaughter and religious conversions as part of the outfit's agenda.

 The VHP has started revitalising its organisational structure, as it believes it should assist the administration in stopping cow slaughter, etc, through its own network. VHP media chief (Delhi) Vinod Bansal told Business Standard the outfit was already seeing more people joining the Bajrang Dal and Durga Vahini camps. While the Bajrang Dal is the VHP's youth wing for men (aged 15 to 45), the Durga Vahini is for women of the same age group. The Matru Shakti is the outfit's entity for women aged more than 45.

 Owing to the increase in numbers, the VHP is mobilising more workers at the grassroots level. It has divided its organisational structure across India into 41 prantas, or states. States such as Rajasthan have been subdivided into three prantas and each pranta is further divided into regions or districts. Each district is categorised into prakhanda, khanda and upakhanda.

 VHP administrative units have 10-member decision making committees. "In Delhi, we have committees up to the khanda level. Now, we plan to extend it to upakhandas, too," Bansal says. The committees at the upakhanda or block level will comprise a president, a secretary and a convener each from the Bajrang Dal and the Durga Vahini, as well as a dedicated person to address media issues. "This is to ensure we have a good rapport with local journalists," Bansal says.

 He adds the committees at the upakhanda level will also have a gau raksha pramukh, responsible for tracking cow slaughters. "The dharma prasar pramukh will check religious conversions and ensure ghar wapasi/shuddhikaran, or re-conversion," Bansal says, adding an archak purohit pramukh will coordinate with all temples in the area concerned, while a math mandir pramukh "will keep an eye on activities in churches and mosques of his area".

 VHP leaders such as Bansal dismiss suggestions that the outfit has been asked not to rake up issues that might prove inconvenient for the government. "The Sangh will not go to sleep or be satisfied with what it has achieved in unseating a corrupt government. We will work towards awakening people to establish a society based on dharma," Bansal says.