Still, which Hindu groups are militant and active now? Says Ajay Sahni of the Institute for Conflict Management: "Right-wing organisations have been inciting violence and incidents of a communal nature for quite some time. Whether to describe them as terror acts is the question. The word terrorism will have to be defined again, and then most incidents will come in its ambit."
Listed below are some of the more active extremist Hindu groups today:
Bajrang Dal: Youth wing of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP). Founded on October 1, 1984, in UP to "awaken" the state's youth and involve them in the Ram janmabhoomi movement. The group claims to have 1,300,000 members, of whom 8,50,000 are workers. They run about 2,500 akhadas—similar to the RSS shakhas. The Dal's presence is pronounced in Maharashtra, Gujarat, UP and MP. Members were involved in the Babri demolition and the murder of Australian missionary Graham Staines. More recently, it played a major role in the Gujarat riots and have been blamed for attacks on mosques in Parbhani in '03, and in Purna and Jalna in '04.
VHP: Established in 1964 as an offshoot of the RSS. Prime motive: Hindu rashtra, Ram mandir in Ayodhya. Activists have been a part of most riots since the '90s.
Hindu Defence Force: Set up in Gujarat during the '02 riots, it now has a presence in Maharashtra. Largely underground, known to be playing an active role in mobilising Hindus.
Jaanta Raja: An extremist Hindu organisation linked to the Shiv Sena. It had a role in the Malegaon riots in October 2001.
Hindu Munnani: Formed in 1980 after the Meenakshipuram Dalit conversions to Islam. Seen as a front organisation of the RSS in Tamil Nadu. Incited riots there after the Babri demolition.
