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"Enemies Of Hindus Must Fear Us"

Despite all-round condemnation for the Orissa killings, Bajrang Dal leaders are anything but defensive. Dr Surendra Jain, its all-India convenor, told Outlook it was not possible for the Bajrang Dal to stop its 'work' unless Christians apologised and

Your organisation has been accused of murdering an Australian missionary and his two sons.
We could have formed suicide squads during the Ayodhya movement when scores of Hindus were killed by Mulayam Singh Yadav. Did we try to kill Mulayam? No. Yeh to ek chhota padri hi tha jise maarna mushkil nahin tha. Ham ise kyon maarne jaate? (Staines was a small-time priest. Why would we kill him?)

What's the reason for this violence?
It is a very natural reaction of society (to the activities of Christian missionaries). But we have said that it was an inhuman act. I've written to the widow (of Staines) expressing my sympathy. We don't believe in the politics of murder. If we had started killing our enemies, nobody knows how many people would have been killed so far.

But such incidents project the Bajrang Dal in a poor light.
Those who want to destroy the Hindus must fear us. We want them to fear us. After all, criminal elements do fear the police. Our motto is: We won't provoke anyone but if we are provoked we will not spare them. But one thing is clear, we will not allow mass conversions.

Why don't you exert pressure on your government to introduce a bill to ban conversions?
This is a coalition it is not really our government. Sarkar bhi hamse khaufzada hai (Even the government is afraid of us).

What kind of training is imparted to a Bajrang Dal activist in your Balopasana kendras?
We decided to set up Balopasana kendras six months ago. Now, we have 2,000 kendras where our cadres are trained in judo, karate, meditation, shooting. We use air guns for that purpose. We must learn how to aim and shoot. We may face a situation where we have to use a gun in self-defence. These are not aggressive but defensive practices.

Will you call off your campaign against the missionaries?
This murder is not going to hamper our task. It is not possible to stop our work. Unless of course, they (the Christians) apologise for ridiculing our gods and also cut off links with terrorist organisations. They call Lord Ram a dushta; they call Hanumanji a monkey. How can they hurt our feelings?

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