Preparation for Violence

Crime Against Humanity 
Volume 2 An inquiry into the carnage in Gujarat -- Findings And Recommendations  by Concerned Citizens Tribunal -Gujarat 2002

Preparation for Violence

1. Role of the BJP and AlliedOrganisations – RSS/VHP/BD
2. Training
3. Impunity from Punishment
4. Hate Speech and Hate Writing
5. Communalisation of the State andCivil Society in Gujarat
6. Role of the RSS
7. Historical Background: The RSS
8. The VHP and Bajrang Dal: Their Evolutionand Role
9. Funding of RSS and its Affiliates
10. Indictment in Communal Crimes

1. Role of the BJP and AlliedOrganisations – RSS/VHP/BD

1.1. From its declaration of the Gujarat bandh on February 28 and the Bharat bandhon March 1, following the Godhra tragedy, the questionable role of the Sangh Parivarin Gujarat and the ruling BJP’s active ‘fraternal’ support to them is clear. Within hoursof the VHP’s bandh call, on the afternoon of February 27, the BJP’s Gujarat generalsecretary extended to them his party’s support.

1.2. Following the declaration of the bandh with detailed action plans, includingsteps taken to ensure police complicity, (see chapters — State Complicity, Police Misbehaviour,Volume III), many of the BJP’s elected representatives to the civic corporation orParliament, were active in leading the mobs targeting Muslims.

1.3. They have been named in FIRs, fact-finding reports of citizens groups andnewspaper reports. (see chapter--List of the accused, Volume III)

1.4. The tight control that outfits like the VHP and RSS have on the ruling BJP inGujarat and on the dominant partner of the National Democratic Alliance at theCentre, has been evident for long. The Gujarat carnage has thoroughly exposed howeven the murder of innocents could be condoned by a party, the BJP, ostensibly wedded to democracy and the rule of law.

1.5. Most shocking in this condonation of the Gujarat carnage, was the role of thedeputy prime minister and home minister, Shri LK Advani, whose electoral constitu-ency is Gandhinagar, the capital of Gujarat. On innumerable occasions, Shri Advanihas been engaged in high praise for Shri Modi and given him a clean chit, when heshould, in fact, have been upholding the Constitution of India. He referred to theGujarat CM as the “best chief minister in 50 years” and has repeatedly praised ShriModi’s Gaurav Yatra, which is nothing short of a celebration of the violence that hisgovernment effectively sponsored. It is in the course of his Gaurav Yatra that ShriModi made some extremely offensive remarks, describing the relief camps as “breed-ing centres” for Muslims, which his government had no interest in promoting.

1.6. The close nexus between the Modi-headed BJP government in Gujarat on theone hand, and the RSS and VHP on the other, is apparent from the backing that eachgave to the other’s statements, including those casting aspersions on constitutionalauthorities like the election commission and the chief election commissioner (CEC).

1.7. Three days after Shri Modi had hit out at the CEC, JM Lyngdoh, as well as theCongress party president, Smt. Sonia Gandhi, because they both happen to be of theChristian faith, on August 23, the international general secretary of the VHP, ShriPraveen Togadia, forcefully repeated the charge. Describing Shri Modi as the ‘he-man’ of Gujarat, he charged Lyngdoh with having an ‘anti-Hindu’ bias because of hisdecision to defer the elections in Gujarat. After delivering a lecture on Islamic terror-ism, organised by the Indraprastha VHP at the Constitution Club in Delhi, Shri Togadiatold reporters, “There are two similarities between Mrs Gandhi and Lyngdoh. Theyare both Christians and both of them don’t want early elections in Gujarat.” TheCEC, he said, had also “betrayed his anti-Hindu bias” earlier, in a lecture delivered atMussourie in the aftermath of the anti-Christian violence in Dangs (Gujarat) in 2000.

1.8. The clear connection and nexus between the democratically elected BJP gov-ernment in Gujarat and outfits like the RSS and the VHP is evident from the former’sconduct, since the carnage. Reports of the Gujarat government’s deliberate avoid-ance of the arrest of at least 150 VHP, Bajrang Dal and BJP kingpins — their namesfigure in the FIRs filed by the police for directly leading the mobs who slaughteredMuslims and indulged in bloody violence — have been confirmed by the absence oftheir names in the charge-sheets.

1.9. Although Shri Modi’s government claims to have arrested over 2,500 personsinvolved in the post-Godhra riots, not a single mastermind from the VHP, BJP orBajrang Dal named as riot perpetrators and mob leaders in various police com-plaints, have been arrested. On the contrary, police officials who have named theseleaders from the Sangh Parivar in the FIRs are being pressured to either drop theirnames or book them under less serious charges. At least six BJP workers have beennamed as the main accused in the Naroda carnage case, where over 150 Muslimmen and women were massacred after girls and women were brutalised sexually.The accused include, Shri Raju Sharma, Shri Kishan Kurani, Shri PJ Rajput, ShriHarish Rohara, Shri Bapu Bajrang and Shri Raju Chaubal, all identified as BJP andVHP activists. FIRs have been lodged against the six Sangh Parivar activists underIPC 302, 395 and 143, 149 and 148 for slaughtering and rioting. However, policehave been instructed not to arrest the culprits. “It is politically incorrect to arrestthem and we are under tremendous pressure not to act against them,” said policeofficers. (The Indian Express, March 9, 2002).

1.10. The Tribunal observes that in Gujarat, many cabinet ministers are simulta-neously prominent leaders of the VHP. The home minister, Shri Gordhan Zadaphiya,is one of them. So, too, is the former revenue minister Shri Haren Pandya, a seniorVHP functionary. He has been named by many witnesses who appeared before us,as trying to influence police not to take action against the accused. Minister forforests, Shri Prabhat Singh Chauhan and minister for cottage industries, Shri NarayanLaloo Patel are also two clear examples of this.

1.11. In Bhavnagar, which witnessed the worst communal violence in its history,there are FIRs against Shri Om Trivedi, the city VHP president, and Shri MansukhPanjwani, a city BJP office bearer and former municipal councillor. Both Shri Trivediand Shri Panjwani are alleged to have led mobs that set fire to over 80 Muslim-ownedbusiness establishments. They are, however, yet to be arrested.

1.12. Similarly, at Surendranagar, CR No. 54/2002 names six persons, who are pri-mary members of the BJP and VHP, for instigating riots and indulging in mayhem. Theyhave been charged under IPC 395, 436, 147, 148 and 149 but have not been arrested.These include district VHP in-charge, Shri Raju Vaishnav, BJP councillor, Shri NarottamSatwara, VHP joint secretary, Shri Dhiren Shukla, Shri Tulsibhai Ranchhod Bharwadand Shri Devji Bharwad, (the last three being active BJP workers). Each time chiefminister Shri Modi and the union home minister and present deputy prime minister,Shri LK Advani were questioned on this matter, they have simply feigned ignorance.This attitude, on both their parts, amounts to shielding the guilty.

1.13. Soon after the Gujarat carnage, there was a nation-wide clamour for the dismissalor resignation of the chief minister and the imposition of President’s rule in the state.While on occasions the Prime Minister Shri Vajpayee gave the impression of being some-what shaken by the events in Gujarat, it soon became evident that it was the RSS who hadthe final say, when the then BJP president, Shri Jana Krishnamurthy, effectively overruledthe PM and asserted that Shri Modi’s resignation was out of the question.

1.14. It is clear from these associations, and the desire of the central and the Gujaratgovernments to grant these outfits legitimacy, that a close and abiding link existsbetween the BJP, the RSS and the VHP/BD. (Two years ago, the Gujarat governmentdecided that there lift the bar on government servants from joining the RSS. Thedecision had to be withdrawn following country-wide protests, including those fromthe BJP’s allies in the NDA coalition at the Centre.)

1.15. On February 27, concerned over the strident posturing related to the cam-paign for building the Ram temple at Ayodhya on the site of the demolished BabriMasjid, none less than the Prime Minister of India, Shri Vajpayee, met with the work-ing president of the VHP, Shri Ashok Singhal.. At this meeting, the RSS joint generalsecretary who was also present promised “to tone down the movement.”

1.16. Within days of the PM expressing some remorse over Gujarat during a visit tothe US, Shri Singhal responded (September 22): “PM Vajpayee’s statement in the USregarding the Gujarat riots had lowered the image of the people of Gujarat. Theprime minister made a ridiculous remark in the US that what happened in Gujarat wasa matter of shame. The remark in fact is most shameful… Gujarat is a lesson for alltimes to come. Since Independence, Hindus had been victims of Muslim vandalism.Now the Hindus of Gujarat have beamed a message that jehadi programmes will nolonger be tolerated in any part of the country. Gujarat has served as a warning tothose trying to make India a pan-Islamic nation. There are one lakh madrassas (Islamicinstitutions) which are propagating a dangerous ideology to make India Dar-ul-Islam.They are breeding grounds for terrorists…”

1.17. The role played by the BJP and organisations like the RSS, VHP and BD in threaten-ing internal peace and security in many parts of India is clear. There is an urgent need to puta complete stop to these activities, which are subversive of the Indian Constitution.

1.18. The Tribunal would like to record here, the ample evidence placed before it byexpert witnesses, newspaper reports and fact-finding team reports, documenting theaggressive tone and posturing of organisations like the RSS, VHP and BD, especiallysince the BJP-dominated National Democratic Alliance came to power at the centre.These activities and such public posturing indicate several things:

• The intimate connection and the hold that these organisations have on the BJP, a party which heads thecentral government today;
• The avowedly anti-constitutional thrust of their intent and activities, whether in the matter of theconstruction of a temple on the site of a demolished mosque, in the absence of a court verdict on the matter,or on other issues;
• The series of arms training camps held all over the country, by the VHP and the Bajrang Dal, bothoff-shoots of the RSS, with close links to the BJP, since, at least, the year 2000. The Indian Arms Act, 1959,expressly prohibits the possession of arms by private parties without licence (the only exception beingsecurity agencies). The possession of a licence before a firearm is owned is a legal requirement. The BombayPolice Act, which applies to Gujarat, is similarly stringent on the question of possession of arms bycitizens. The police are empowered to demand production of a licence. (Section 19 of the Arms Act). Theexemption of the trishul (which in fact is a sharp, three-pronged weapon, which can cause fatal injury), fromthe provisions ofthe Arms Act, through a GR issued by the central government, is a clever ploy toencourage the militarisation and arming of a section of civil society by such groups.The swords that are also freely sold at the arms training camps, along with the air gunsand rifles that are used for shooting practice, are clear pointers to the intent of theseorganisations. Yet, the police in BJP-ruled states and the BJP-led central governmenthave turned a blind eye to such ominous developments.
• In the specific case of the Gujarat carnage, whether on the issue of the removalor resignation of Shri Modi from the chief minister’s post or others, it is evident thatthe BJP-led ruling NDA’s demeanour and actions have been strongly influenced bythe utterings of the RSS and its siblings, the VHP and the BD.

1.19. The intelligence departments of three states in India — Madhya Pradesh,Maharashtra and Rajasthan — have asked for a ban on the Bajrang Dal, on the groundsthat it is generating “terror” and spawning home–bred terrorists. The testimony ofmany witnesses, from both communities, who appeared before the Tribunal, rein-forces the assessment of the state police in Gujarat’s neighbouring states. “ManyGujaratis, Hindus and Muslims alike, felt that the Bajrang Dal had made a business ofdeliberately transforming ordinary people into terrorists. Where people had been liv-ing peacefully, they unnecessarily spun stories about Muslims, although, so far, Mus-lims had never given them any trouble. They wondered why people were being taughtthings like this.” (A witness’ testimony before the Tribunal.)

2. Training

2.1. In recent years, groups affiliated to the Sangh Parivar have been in the ascen-dant country-wide, given their increased access to political power, patronage andmoney. But the extent and scale of their mobilisation in Gujarat should be a matter ofgrave concern for the law and order machinery.

2.2. The BJP’s rule in Gujarat, after its return to power in February 1998, has beenmarked by frequent attacks on the religious minorities in the state and other anti-constitu-tional actions that remained unchallenged. (See chapter on Build -Up in Gujarat, Volume II).

2.3. Evidence led before the tribunal from Naroda Patiya, Naroda Gaon, Gulbergsociety, Chamanpura, Gomtipur and Rakhial (all in Ahmedabad), from Vadodara,Bharuch, Ankleshwar and from villages in Himmatnagar, Sabarkantha, and Panchmahaldistrict reveals that local tensions built up after the formation of an RSS/VHP/BDunit in the area. These groups started marshalling young Hindus, assuming an aggres-sive attitude, distributing swords and trishuls and, in general, adopting a vigilante stanceagainst ‘impending attacks from Muslims.’

2.4. The Tribunal has led specific and detailed evidence on the method of mobilisationand training adopted by the VHP and Bajrang Dal from four recruitsformer recruits.This explains the phenomenon whereby huge mobs surfaced so promptly all over thestate during the carnage. It also explains the ability of these organisations to collectyoungsters, indoctrinated with misconceptions and with hatred in their hearts, who wereavailable at a signal from their leaders to commit murder, loot, arson and rape, and defyall laws, secure in the conviction that with the BJP in power, they would have fullprotection and need have no fear of the law and order machinery.

2.5. Reproduced here is the gist of the testimony of the four recruits/former recruitsmentioned above, which provides a clear picture of the BD’s and the VHP’s mobilisationtechniques. The enrolment fee for a new entrant to a BD shakha (cell) is Rs. 55. Onceadmitted, you are expected to attend meetings held around 8 p.m. every night, mostly onprivate premises, sometimes in small temples. Secret meetings for the more select areheld once a week, later at night, around 10 p.m. Enrolment to the shakha entitles thevolunteer to a card identifying him as a Bajrang Dal karyakarta (activist). If you helprecruit 10 more youth, you are made a ‘VHP Mantri’. You are given a trishul the momentyou enrol. You are told that trishuls were not meant to be kept inside a temple andworshipped but to be used to protect the Hindu faith. You are also told that the trishulshould not be used to kill one’s ‘brothers’, but to save ‘our’ religion.

2.6. At the weekly meetings, members are told, more explicitly, that the trishuls areto be used against Muslims whenever there was a riot or a fight. If you killed Muslims,the organisation was there to protect you from penal consequences. If somethinghappened to you, the organisation was there to take care of your family. If you did getarrested during the riots, all you had to do was to show your Bajrang dal membershipcard and the police was sure to let you go.

2.7. The VHP Mantris are assigned the responsibility of training 60-70 boys eachday. What did the training involve? The training primarily involved compiling an exhaustive list of all Muslims living in the area. Members had to collect informationabout Muslim places of residence, property, businesses, family, etc. in the locality:Who lived where, how much they were worth, how many children they had, etc. Allthe information so gathered was to be passed on in the form of a written report thatwas maintained by the Mantri.

2.8. The Tribunal notes with horror, the level of impunity that such unlawful, armedorganisations have come to enjoy in BJP-ruled Gujarat.

2.9. Apart from the detailed account of the four recruits/former recruits to theBajrang Dal, other witnesses from Naroda, near Ahmedabad, and from Kheda, Bharuchand Panchmahal districts also gave evidence before the Tribunal about training campsbeing organised in their neighbourhoods. In all these cases, an intensive training ofthe BD/VHP volunteers began after September 2001. An advertisement encouragingyoungsters to join the Bajrang Dal in large numbers had appeared in the Gujarat daily,Sandesh in August last year.

2.10. This suggests sinister preparation and planning for the Gujarat carnage long beforethe Godhra tragedy, by the Sangh Parivar affiliates, their leaders confident of impunity fromthe long arm of the law since they enjoyed the patronage of the ruling party.

2.11. Notwithstanding the in themselves startling and brazen revelations made byprofessor Keshavram Kashiram Shastri, the 96-year-old chairman of the Gujarat unitof the VHP, in an interview to rediff.com, there is evidently an attempt to deny pastpreparation and planning, intensively so in Gujarat since last year. In the interview (seeAnnexures, Volume I) Shri Shastri said that the list of shops owned by Muslims inAhmedabad was prepared on the morning of February 28 itself. This was in responseto the allegation that shops in Ahmedabad were looted on the basis of a list preparedby the VHP in advance, and that the violence was not a spontaneous outburst againstthe Godhra outrage. Asked why they did it, he responded, “’Karvunj pade, karvunj pade’(‘It had to be done, it had to be done’). We don’t like it, but we were terribly angry.Lust and anger are blind.” He said the rioters were “kelvayela Hindu chokra” (“well-bred Hindu boys”). The impunity with which Shri Shastri could speak with the candourthat he did in his interview on March 12, and again on March 29, when he told thesame journalist that the organisation (VHP) had been asked to pull back, is shocking,to say the least. That the Gujarat government has taken no action whatsoever againstShri Shastri speaks volumes about the BJP-VHP nexus.

2.12. The constant invocation of caste Hindu symbols, militant and aggressiveposturing, the possession of trishuls and swords and regular weapons’ training wereelements of the methodical preparation of these cadres. Young men were told thatBajrang Dal workers should always greet each other with ‘Jai Shri Ram!’ to identifythemselves. One of the centres used for physical training was at a theatre beyondAdalaj on the Gandhinagar road outside Ahmedabad. While trishuls were often dis-tributed on payment of enrolment fees, members were asked to pay Rs. 310 for asword. They were assured at the secret weekly training sessions that the swords were‘legal’. They were also told that if ever the police found them, all they had to do was tell them that it was a Bajrang Dal sword, and no one would say anything. Swordswere sold to the recruits quite openly and instructions on how to use them were givenat the secret meetings.

2.13. At the advanced stage of training, the more seasoned members were told theywould have to participate in fights or riots (ladhai-jhagda, danga-fasaad) whenever neces-sary. They said that, as Bajrang Dal leaders, they would, necessarily, be the most active,but young men, too, should always be prepared. They might be woken up in the middleof the night and should be ready to participate. The recruits were promised that whenthey participated in a riot, the organisation would pay them double the money that theylost in regular wages. Young men were also assured that if ever they were injured orkilled during a riot, their families would receive adequate compensation.

2.14. The speeches at these meetings followed a basic pattern. Leaders would bebrought in to brainwash the young members against Muslims. The single point agenda,evidence before the Tribunal has recorded, indicates that the desire was to demonisethe Muslim community as also to create an armed cadre of young men, indoctrinated,full of hatred in their hearts, and sufficiently trained to perpetrate the grossest formsof physical abuse on their victims.

2.15. The Tribunal collected concrete information about the kind of mental train-ing and brainwashing imparted to young men at the secret, weekly meetings – “Wewere told that until now it is the Muslims who have been harassing Hindus. ‘Theyhave molested Hindu sisters and Hindu daughters. In Hindi films today, all the topheroes are Muslims, but there are no Muslim heroines. It is Muslims who are forgingahead in our country. They don’t let their daughters out in public but they spoil ourHindu daughters. Muslims are the ones who always use force. Our country was oncea Hindu nation. The Muslims invaded us by force, married our mothers and our daugh-ters and converted us to Islam.’”

2.16. According to the witnesses, in the Bajrang Dal camps, young men are told: “Underthe pretext of prayers [namaaz], Muslims gather at 2 p.m. every day and maulvis instructthem in several activities. They specially employ young men, pay them a salary and sendthem to college to spoil Hindu girls. Muslims are involved in several such nefarious activi-ties.” They said that they wanted to start a similar practice amongst Hindus. That waswhat the secret 10 p.m. meetings were meant for. Here the members would all band to-gether, worship/invoke Hanuman and prepare “to give Muslims a fitting reply.” The se-cret meetings – gupt shakhas — also gave special training in the use of arms.

2.17. The Tribunal, therefore, concludes that abundant financial resources was onedistinguishing feature of these outfits; that mercenary means are adopted to sustainthe interest and participation of young cadres, ready to do the bidding of their hate-filled masters.

2.18. The Tribunal records that in Gujarat, quite apart from the political patronageand impunity from the law accorded to these outfits, there is enough money to fi-nance the mobilisation. The source of such funds, used increasingly for blatantlyunlawful and unconstitutional activities, needs to be investigated.

2.19. The Tribunal received detailed information on the Sangh Parivar’s shakha ac-tivities all over Gujarat, from the evidence of witnesses living in neighbourhoodswhere the training takes place. It should be a matter of priority for the local police tokeep a tab on such activities, and curtail them, as they clearly disseminate hate litera-ture to create permanent disharmony, fissures and tensions in Indian society and dis-tribute arms and give arms training to pit one religious community against another.

2.20. Reports in credible national dailies and periodicals show that the VHP andthe Bajrang Dal have been regularly conducting arms training camps in different partsof the country, for the last two years at least. (See Detailed Annexures, Volume III). Fromthe statements on record, the objective behind these camps is evident, as are theobjectives of their organisers and the instructors who conduct them: to spread venomagainst the minorities, especially Muslims and Christians, and to prepare a band ofheavily indoctrinated, well-trained youth ready at a moment’s notice to pounce on theminorities. “We are preparing these able-bodied persons to fight any eventuality. Withthe ISI spreading its tentacles, these people are being trained to challenge the anti-Hindu forces... It is not the gun that matters, but self-confidence.” (Ved PrakashSachchan, joint convenor of the UP unit of the Bajrang Dal, in an interview to TheTimes of India, June 13, 2001.) Such are the declared activities at these camps. TheTribunal has on its record, details of such arms training by these outfits in differentstates all over the country.

2.21. Given this background and the detailed evidence gathered by the Tribunal inthe course of its investigations for a fortnight in Gujarat in May 2002, on the objectivesand the kind of training given in the course of these camps, it is clear that they are ameans to poison minds and generate hatred among Hindu youth towards other faithsand their followers. For Indian society, the consequences of such systematic and large-scale indoctrination and training, which is blatantly unconstitutional and seriously threat-ens internal peace, cannot be overemphasised. Instead of orienting them towards pro-ductive, creative and noble purposes, hate-mongers from the Sangh Parivar are busymobilising youth for destructive activities. Anyone concerned about the health of In-dian society and its progress should be acutely disturbed by these developments. Gov-ernments in the states and in New Delhi should view these developments with theurgency they deserve and halt such hate-driven mobilisation for violence.

2.22. Testimonies recorded by the Tribunal from Vadodara showed that about 2months prior to the Godhra incident, a big meeting (sabha) was held at Tarsali busstand near Vijaynagar colony. About 2-3000 people attended. It was a meeting forpeople from the Bajrang Dal and was attended by the international general secretaryof the VHP, Shri Praveen Togadia as well a religious leader whose speech was telecaston the local television channel. The Tribunal recorded evidence that showed objec-tionable and criminal statements were made and telecast. Witnesses testified beforethe Tribunal saying that Hindus should not interact with Muslims on a normal basisbut should only maintain good relations with those Muslims who have good lookingwives, so that when the time came they could do what they had to do.

2.23. In August 2001, the VHP and the Bajrang Dal had organised a VHP Bharti(Join VHP) programme. Nearly one lakh people marched through the streets ofAhmedabad even though curfew was declared. This went on until September. One ofthe main programmes was held at the VHP’s Vanikar Bhavan, Paldi. Their main avahan(call) was, “Muslim ko nasht kar do!” (“Destroy the Muslims!”) Advertisements were also released,asking for membership.

3. Impunity from Punishment

3.1. Gross and heinous crimes instigated or committed by the Sangh Parivar with the con-nivance of the BJP-ruled state government, during the post-Godhra carnage in Gujarat, hasbeen matched with a celebration of the crimes and open contempt for the rule law. OnMarch 9, The Indian Express reported that even before the police had apprehended or pre-pared charge-sheets against the VHP and Bajrang Dal activists named in FIRs for attackingMuslims, the VHP had a team of 50 advocates ready to defend the killers in court. “Theadvocates will work in teams of five each. What is more, a core committee was set up onTuesday to provide ‘succour’ to families of men on the run or in judicial custody... The VHPstate wing general secretary, Jaideep Patel says, ‘These men (the Godhra victims and thosefacing police action for post Godhra crimes) have fought a religious battle. They also foughtto protect Hindu lives under attack. Not only the VHP and Bajrang Dal, the whole commu-nity should come forward to help them’… Patel is not sure how many of his men are alreadyin police reports or will be named in them, but says it ‘will not be less than 3,000’, includingthose responsible for the Gulberg society and Jakar Falia attacks.”

3.2. According to the same report in The Indian Express a top Bajrang Dal function-ary, Shri Harshad Gilletwala said, “Cases are being registered against our men allacross the state — Ahmedabad, Surat, Panchmahal. Maybe some of our men mayhave been involved in reprisals, being emotionally charged by the Godhra attack. Butin most cases they are being falsely implicated.”

3.3. Incidentally, Shri Gilletwala himself faces similar charges. He is named inseveral cases of rioting in Ahmedabad over the last few years, the most infamousbeing the 1999 Bhagyodaya restaurant case. Gilletwala and a gang of Bajrang Dalmen allegedly set fire to the restaurant in the Satellite area and burnt alive one of itsMuslim owners in July 1999. (See chapter on Build-Up in Gujarat, Volume II)

4. Hate Speech and Hate Writing

4.1. Since the BJP came to power in Gujarat in 1998, the parent RSS and its progenyhave been conducting a relentless hate campaign against the minorities, which goesagainst the laws of the land and violates international covenants, many of which Indiais a signatory to. After the Godhra tragedy, where, in an unpardonable act, 58 passengersaboard a train were burnt alive on February 27, the hate speeches and hate literature hasbeen geared to both incite and justify the gross violence against Muslims.

4.2. The Akhil Bharatiya Pratinidhi Sabha of the RSS, held at Chennenahalli, nearBangalore, from March 16-19, reflected the organisation’s role and thinking on theGodhra and post-Godhra incidents. On the eve of the meeting of its leaders, the RSSgave a clean chit to Shri Modi’s role during the Gujarat carnage. Describing the vio-lence after the Godhra incident as a “natural reaction of Hindus”, the RSS assertedthat no government could have controlled the “upsurge”. While expressing the viewthat the “natural reaction” (read gruesome and unprecedented violence) was unjusti-fiable, the RSS spokesperson Shri MG Vaidya said, “Whole Hindu society irrespec-tive of caste, creed and political affiliations, reacted violently against what had hap-pened at Godhra.” (The Times of India, March 16.)

4.3. At the conclusion of the conference, two days later, with over 2,000 innocentMuslims having been brutally killed, not to mention the other indignities heaped onthe community in Gujarat, the RSS thought it fit to lecture to Indian Muslims on their“extremist leaders” and “Hindu-baiters”. A resolution adopted at the three-day con-ference of the Sangh, said: “Let Muslims understand that their real safety lies in thegoodwill of the majority.” Although a few Muslim leaders interpreted ‘jihad’ as notsupporting terrorism, they had not been able to influence the extremist elements, itsaid. “The Sabha wants to make it clear that it does no credit to the Muslim commu-nity to allow itself to be made pawns in the hands of extremist leaders,” the resolu-tion added. Describing the Godhra incident as “horrible and ghastly”, the RSS del-egates said it was imperative to present things in the proper perspective. “The reac-tion to the incident was spontaneous. The entire Hindu society had reacted. It wasunfortunate that a number of people died in the violence.” (Shri Vaidya quoted in TheHindu, March 18). Ten days later, the RSS restated its position and further elucidatedthe advice given in Bangalore. Shri Vaidya demanded that Muslims “re-interpret anddefine” the words kafir (infidels), kufr (the philosophy of infidels) and jihad (holy waragainst infidels). When asked how, in his view, Muslims could earn the goodwill ofHindus, Vaidya said they must condemn the activities of those who professed tocarry out a “ jihad” against “idol-worshippers”. He said the RSS did not consider allMuslims terrorists, but “many terrorists happened to be Muslims” and claimed thatthey were pursuing “ jihad, which is an Islamic cause”. (The Indian Express, March 28).The RSS spokesperson used the occasion to advise Christians, too. “Christians shouldalso accept that there is salvation outside the Church, too. Nobody should indulge inmass conversions and nobody should claim to offer a superior spirituality.”

4.4. The attitude of the top leadership of the VHP to the post-Godhra carnageembodied not just open support and celebration of the mass crimes, but also thethreat to repeat Gujarat’s example all over India. On March 6, The Hindustan Timesquoted the all-India vice-president of the VHP, Shri Hareshbhai Bhatt as saying thathe was proud that Hindus have finally stirred: “For years, we have been harassed andattacked. The law protects them and governments, including the one led by the BJP,have appeased them.” Shri Bhatt scoffed at the idea of an inquiry into the mayhem:“Inquiry, what inquiry? An inquiry is held when an offence has been committed. Whathappened at Godhra was an offence. What happened after Godhra was a reaction...The VHP has taken a long-term decision that all Hindus will boycott Muslims economically, financially and socially. Muslims have to change their mindsets if theyhave to live here.”

4.5. Such statements by office bearers of the VHP must not be seen in isolation.Pre-and post-Godhra Gujarat and India is testimony to how these statements are alsotranslated into venomous actions against the minorities.

4.5.1. Since the Gujarat carnage, the working president of the VHP, Shri AshokSinghal, its international general secretary, Shri Praveen Togadia, and other promi-nent leaders have revelled in repeated public utterances gloating over the violenceagainst Muslims, instigating further hatred against them and threatening to force allIndian Muslims into refugee camps, as in Gujarat.

4.5.2. On September 17, the VHP’s national secretary, Shri Surendra Jain, told anews agency that what happened in Gujarat after the Godhra killing was “not a mat-ter of shame but a matter of pride.” He was criticising the Prime Minister who haddescribed the Gujarat happenings as a matter of “national shame.”

4.5.3. On September 3, describing Gujarat as a “successful experiment,” Shri Singhalsaid, “Godhra happened on February 27 and the next day, 50 lakh Hindus were on thestreets. We were successful in our experiment of raising Hindu consciousness, which willbe repeated all over the country now.” The very next day, he expounded on his proposi-tion. Shri Singhal spoke in glowing terms of the fact that in the state of his dreams, entirevillages had been “emptied of Islam” and large numbers of Muslims had been forced toseek the shelter of refugee camps. “People say I praise Gujarat. Yes, I do.”At a press conference on October 11, Shri Singhal stated, “What happened in Gujaratwill happen in the whole of the country. Hindus were not born to be cut like carrotsand radishes… the Hindukaran (Hinduisation) of the people of Gujarat was a directresult of the ‘jehadi’ mentality of Muslims.”

4.5.4. On September 15, Shri Praveen Togadia, who has repeatedly mocked thelaw of the land in recent months, (see section on Annexures, Volume I) said that Gujaratwould decide the country’s politics.

4.5.5. On August 9, the VHP leader Acharya Giriraj Kishore demanded that Mus-lims should amend certain verses (Ayaat) in the Koran.

4.5.6. On September 9, the chief minister of Gujarat, Shri Narendra Modi, ad-dressing a rally in Mehsana district during his Gaurav Yatra, said: “Relief camps areactually child-making factories. Those who keep on multiplying the population (readMuslims) should be taught a lesson.” (The Hindu, September 10)Shri Modi’s very offensive remarks created a national uproar. When, following newsreports, the National Human Rights Commission demanded a copy of the taped speechof the chief minister, the Gujarat government pretended that no such tape existed,until Star News telecast the same. Undeterred by all this, Shri Togadia announced at apress conference, “The VHP will distribute all over the country one lakh copies ofthe cassette of Modi’s speech delivered on September 9, to make the people aware ofthe double standards of the so-called secularist parties including the Congress.” (TheDeccan Herald, September 24)

4.5.7. “The time was ripe for forming a separate army of Hindu youths who wouldprotect the religion from attacks by jehadis.” (Praveen Togadia, The Times of India,October 18, 2002)

4.6. The above statements and others made at different points by influential officebearers of the VHP and BD, jubilant over the Gujarat carnage post-Godhra and eulogisingShri Modi as one of the three modern day heroes of Hindus, along with Shri Singhal (forhis role in the Ramjanmabhoomi movement and demolition of the Babri Masjid) andShiv Sena leader, Shri Bal Thackeray (for his anti-Muslim pogrom in 1992-’93), reflectthe intimate connection between them and the common design by which they operate.They also reveal the real intent of these organisations. Not only is the generation ofanimus and hatred against a particular section celebrated and justified, there is littleconcern that such an attitude militates against the country’s secular democratic ethos. Itis clear to the Tribunal from the vast evidence placed before it that the real intent andpurpose of the Sangh Parivar is the subversion of the Constitution of India.

4.7. Quite apart from the public statements and utterances that have been widelypublicised in the national media after the Gujarat carnage, the plethora of hate pam-phlets in circulation in Gujarat before, during and since the carnage are testimony to thecalculated use of demonising tactics, by these outfits, to spur their cadres into action.

4.8. Evidence in the form of the originals and translations of these pamphlets wereplaced on record before the tribunal. (See section on Annexures, Volume I). Many of thesehave been in circulation, intermittently, over the past four years. But the period betweenFebruary and April, 2002 saw the proliferation of such literature, some identifying theauthor, others anonymous, but all a foul testimony to the debasing levels of hatred thatthe ideologues of a ‘Hindu State’ can reduce ordinary people to. The Tribunal recordswith horror, the deep-rooted conspiracy and design that is evident from a perusal of allthese pamphlets. From openly asking for a blatantly anti-constitutional boycott of Mus-lim shops and establishments, there are also exhortations to violence against Muslimwomen and children that are too shocking and painful to detail here. They reveal adepth of hatred that can be no good for the people it grips and takes hold of. Only a sickand degenerate leadership can want the whole of Indian society to descend to suchdemeaning levels of hatred whereby any excuse is good enough to unleash bloodshedand mass violence. The Tribunal has recorded dozens of testimonies from differentparts of Gujarat that show how in the past four years, 3-4 times a year, tens of thou-sands of such pamphlets would flood Gujarati homes, thrust upon even those Hinduswho are repulsed by their contents. From February-April 2002, the circulation of thesepamphlets intensified considerably. It is astounding that no action was initiated by anywing of the Gujarat state intelligence or police against such hateful and incendiarywriting; nor did the judiciary take suo motu action, which it is empowered to do. Whilemost of the hate pamphlets are anonymous, there were at least four for which both theVHP and BD claimed proud authorship. (See section on Annexures, Volume I). It is a matterof profound shame that even in these cases, no action was initiated against the errantoutfits and their office bearers.

4.9. One such pamphlet which bears special mention here, is one that mentions,with name and full address, a VHP office bearer as the author and publisher of thisVHP/BD pamphlet: Chinubhai N. Patel, Vishwa Hindu Parishad Office; VanikarSmarak Bhavan, 11 Mahalakshmi Society, Mahalakshmi Cross Roads, Paldi, Karnavati.Tel. 6604015, 6631365 Tel. (res.) 7454699. This pamphlet, which was in wide circu-lation, openly propagated hatred against Indian Muslims:

“The terrorist and traitorous Muslims of this country get weapons from morethan 50 Muslim nations to carry out their religious wars. They are supplied withAK-56 and AK-47 rifles, automatic machine guns, small canons, rocket launchersand several kilos of RDX… The entire country is sitting on a heap of weapons andheading towards civil war and internal strife... When Pakistan attacks India, theMuslims living here will revolt... In 1947, they only had sticks, swords and spearsbut now they have modern weapons... They are plotting to kill crores of Hindus andwe will be fighting these traitorous Muslims in every lane and by-lane of the coun-try... If the Parliament and the Kashmir assembly can be attacked then what safetyis there for the citizens of the country?…”

4.10. The above-mentioned pamphlet, which was produced before the Tribunal isnothing short of a vilification of Muslims. It is shocking that under a constitutional,secular-democratic order, such a pamphlet was not seized, the organisation whoseviews it obviously represents immediately banned, and its office bearers, who are agrave threat to national security, detained.

4.11. Provocative statements by VHP office bearers and by elected representativesin Gujarat in the immediate aftermath of the reprehensible killing of 59 Hindus on atrain in Godhra, are widely believed to have been interpreted by VHP cadres,sympathisers and other individuals in Gujarat as a call to violence, which led to wide-spread killings throughout the state, earlier this year.

5. Communalisation of the Stateand Civil Society in Gujarat

5.1. Undeterred by the country-wide condemnation and outrage at the Gujaratcarnage, the VHP’s office bearers, especially Shri Singhal and Shri Togadia, havebeen touring the country and making newspaper headlines each day, pouringfresh vitriol against the minorities and undermining the constitutional schemeitself. The fact that they continue to do so, unchecked by the political execu-tive, the law and order machinery, or by suo motu action by the judiciary, is asorry comment on the state of the rule of law, or the lack of it, now prevalentin this country.

5.2. When the country’s chief election commissioner (CEC), Shri JM Lyngdoh de-cided that in the circumstances still prevailing in Gujarat, elections (free and fair)could not be held immediately as desired by Shri Modi and his party, both Shri Modiand Shri Togadia alleged that the CEC was a “Christian who was taking revenge forthe attack on Christians in Dangs in 1999.” This is nothing short of the denigration ofa constitutional authority on sectarian grounds.

5.3. The agenda of these outfits for Gujarat becomes clear when you see theirunabashed proclamation of Gujarat as a “Hindu Rashtra” (“Hindu state”). Duringtheir tour of several areas of Gujarat in May, Tribunal members saw signboards allover the state, welcoming people to ‘Hindu Rashtra’. “Karnavati city of this HinduRashtra welcomes you,” proclaims a board painted in saffron, in the heart ofAhmedabad. (Karnavati is the VHP’s preferred name for Ahmedabad). InChhotaudaipur, 200 km south of Ahmedabad, the signboard on the highway is moredirect. It simply says: “Welcome to Hindu Rashtra’s Chhotaudaipur town.”

5.4. These signboards are just one part of the legacy of nearly five years of BJP rulein Gujarat. Whenever cornered, the BJP claims it has nothing to do with the ‘hiddenagenda’ of the Sangh Parivar, but neither the party nor the government it runs has anydifficulty with their fraternity’s open challenge to the constitutional idea of India byHindutva’s long cherished dream of a ‘Hindu India’.

5.5. Even the Congress party, which returned to power in the Ahmedabad Mu-nicipal Corporation (AMC) two years ago, has been reluctant to pull down theseboards, despite a directive to this effect issued recently by the new state Congresspresident, Shri Shankersinh Vaghela.

6. Role of the RSS

6.1. The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), is an organisation with the self-professed goal of India as a ‘Hindu state’. (See section below, Historical Backgroundof the RSS). It spawned the Vishwa Hindu Parishad in 1964 which in turn set upthe Bajrang Dal in 1986, an aggressive militant outfit whose activities are nothingshort of criminal. The RSS’ links with the BJP are well known. In the early 50s,when the Bharatiya Jana Sangh, the earlier avatar of the BJP, was formed to dabblein parliamentary politics, trusted RSS pracharaks (propagators) were ‘delegated’ tothe party. Following the failed Janata experiment of the 1970s, after the end ofEmergency rule, the Bharatiya Jana Sangh resurfaced as the Bharatiya Janata Party,which dominates the National Democratic Alliance coalition government at thecentre today. The antecedents of both present Prime Minister, Shri Atal BehariVajpayee, and deputy prime minister, Shri LK Advani, are as trusted pracharaksof the RSS, loaned to the BJS decades ago, to translate Hindutva’s ideology into apolitical programme.

6.2. The loyalties of Shri Vajpayee, Shri Advani and other senior BJP leaders likeformer law minister Shri Arun Jaitley and the chief minister of Gujarat, Shri NarendraModi, to the RSS are well known and have been established beyond any doubt.

6.3. The role of the RSS in the build-up to Godhra (the shilapoojan in Ayodhya onMarch 15) and the post-Godhra carnage is both curious and enlightening. On March15, the RSS gave a clean chit to the Modi-run administration in its handling of theviolence. As mentioned above in the section on hate speech and writing, it justifiedthe carnage as a “natural reaction”. Two days later, as also detailed in the sectionabove, it castigated Indian Muslims for their extremist leadership.

6.4. In January 2002, the RSS announced that henceforth, it would hoist the NationalFlag at all its shakhas on every Republic Day and Independence Day. This is a recentphenomenon. Until now, when, as a body, it claims the inculcating of nationalism andpatriotism in every citizen to be its primary objective, it had doggedly shunned the na-tional flag — a precious national symbol for any country — except on a few occasions.

6.5. In January 2002, the RSS convened a massive rally in Jhabua in MP state inwhich an estimated 1.5 lakh Adivasis from Gujarat, MP and Rajasthan participated.As the crow flies, Jhabua is not far from the Panchmahal district in Gujarat. Inflam-matory speeches made by the RSS chief, Shri KS Sudarshan, and others at this rallyare believed to have contributed to the incitement of tribals to violence against Mus-lims in the tribal areas of north Gujarat. From news reports, it appeared that the rallyhad more to do with ‘Hinduisation’ of Adivasis and inciting them against minoritiesthan with anything related to the genuine welfare of the Adivasis.

6.6. The statements of RSS leaders made at training camps in Bihar, teaching stu-dents that because President Shri APJ Abdul Kalam reads the Gita, “He is a Hindu”(The Statesman, September 3), and the constant questioning of Article 25 of the IndianConstitution, which upholds the freedom of faith, are further indicative of theorganisation’s anti-constitutional thrust.

6.7. A clear demonstration of the communal and blatantly unconstitutional man-ner of functioning by the RSS was the recent campaign launched by that organisationin Rajasthan, to draw the city’s youth into its fold by undertaking a communal surveyof the city’s population. At the end of this campaign, the RSS hopes to have a data-base on every Hindu boy and young man in the city of Jaipur. Its aim being, “Toproselytise uninitiated Hindus, and to give memberships to those who show sympa-thy for the sangh.” (The Hindustan Times, Jaipur August 21, 2002)). The report alsopointed out that a similar survey was conducted in Gujarat six months prior to thecarnage. The Tribunal is convinced that given the track record of this organisationand given the fact that a large part of its mission is to engender communal feelingamong sections wherein none existed before, the activities of these outfits need to bewatched and, if necessary, curtailed.

6.8. Role of the RSS in Indian Politics: The RSS has always expressed keen interestand taken its own stance on what it considers to be key national issues. Since theBJP’s assumption of power in New Delhi, this articulation became more pronounced.Every so often, it has attempted to issue a ‘whip’ to its parliamentary wing – the BJP.Routine political utterances by RSS functionaries, either in approval or disapprovalof the decisions taken by the BJP-led cabinet are examples of this.

7. Historical Background: The RSS

7.1. An investigation into the state-sponsored carnage in Gujarat would be rudder-less without an examination and understanding of the ideology and the workings ofthe RSS and the VHP, the ideological fountainheads of the Hindu right wing. TheBJP, which leads the NDA government at the centre, is merely the parliamentary expression of the sectarian ideology of Hindutva. The Bajrang Dal is the youth wingof the VHP, whose mandate involves the use of arms, if necessary, to nurture ‘Hindupride’ and ‘Save the Hindu Nation’.

7.2. The RSS, the VHP and its numerous affiliates and branches are committed toan ideology that militates against the basic principles that underpin the Indian Consti-tution. The principle of equal rights to all citizens and non-discrimination are funda-mental values in the Indian Constitution. It is clear from its ideological orientation,utterances and activities that the Sangh Parivar — the RSS, VHP, BD, BJP and theirideological offspring — is fundamentally opposed to the Indian Constitution.

7.3. In his book, We or Our Nationhood Defined, published in 1939, Shri MS Golwalkar,the second ‘sarsanghchalak’ (head) of the RSS, reverentially referred to by Sangh Parivarmembers as ‘Guru Golwalkar’ or simply ‘Guruji’, clearly spelt out his notion of ‘cul-tural nationalism’, drawing unabashed inspiration from the example of Adolph Hitler.Through painstaking research, some scholars have unearthed information in recentyears, to establish, beyond doubt, the ideological and organisational inspiration thatRSS leaders drew from fascist Italy and nazi Germany in the late ‘20s and ’30s. (SeeDetailed Annexures, Volume III). The public utterances of the RSS today, its constantinvocation of the ‘Hindu nation’ ideal, its consistent adversarial stance against thecountry’s religious minorities, clearly establish the link between the theory articulatedby ‘Guruji’ in 1939 and the current practice of the Sangh Parivar.

7.4. In January 2000, the BJP-controlled Gujarat and UP governments decided tolift the ban on government servants joining the RSS. This raised a nation-wide outcryforcing withdrawal of the notifications, but not before Shri Advani had paid glowingtributes to his parent organisation. The fact that the BJP leadership would like toencourage and legitimise such close links between the RSS and the bureaucracy is aclear indication of the close links between the two organisations. That the short-livedJanata experiment, post-Emergency, collapsed over the issue of former Jana Sanghleaders’ insistence on their right to publicly retain their relationship with the RSS(‘dual membership’) is well-known. It is, of course, another matter that this is nolonger an issue for the other (non-BJP) political descendents of the Janata Party whoare now part of the NDA.

7.5. On January 30, 1948, barely five months after India won her Independence andthe sub-continent was partitioned on religious lines, the unthinkable happened — Gandhi,affectionately called the ‘Mahatma’ and ‘Father of the Nation’ was assassinated byNathuram Vinayak Godse, a young Maharashtrian. Godse, who belonged to the ex-tremist Hindu Mahasabha, had, in the past, also been been member of a small voluntaryorganisation, the Hindu Rashtra Dal, and, in the early 1930s, of the RSS.

7.6. Following the assassination, the government of India treated both the HinduMahasabha and the RSS as constituting a threat to law and order. Shri Golwalkar, theRSS sarsanghchalak and Shri VG Deshpande, general secretary of the Hindu Mahasabha,were arrested, and the government declared that no organisation preaching violenceor communal hatred would be tolerated. On February 4, 1948 the union home ministry headed by Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, released a communiqué announcing that theRSS was an unlawful association; the subsequent arrest of a number of its leaders andmembers reduced its activity to a minimum.

7.7. When a few sympathisers of the RSS within the Congress initiated a move tolift the ban, the home ministry, under Shri Patel, issued yet another communiquédated November 14, 1948: “The information received by the government of Indiashows that the activities carried on in various forms and ways by the people associated with the RSS tend to be anti-national and often subversive and violent and thatpersistent attempts are being made by the RSS to revive an atmosphere in the countrywhich was productive of such disastrous consequences in the past.”

7.8. While rejecting all pleas from Shri Golwalkar that the RSS was a reformed body, the communiquécontinued: “He has written letters both to the Prime Minister and the Home Minister explaining inter aliathat the RSS agrees entirely in the conception of asecular state for India and that it accepts the National Flag of the country and request-ing that the banimposed on the organisation in February should now be lifted. Theseprofessions of the RSS leader are, however, quite inconsistent with the practice of his followers and for thereasons already explained above, the Government of India findthemselves unable to advice provincial governments to lift the ban. The Prime Minister has, therefore,declined the interview which Mr. Golwalkar had sought.”

7.9. In a letter to Shri Golwalkar, on the ban on the RSS following Gandhiji’s assassination, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel had written: “It was not necessary to spread poison in order to enthuseHindus and organise for their self-protection... As a final result of their poison, the country had to sufferthe sacrifice of the invaluable life of Gandhiji. The RSS men expressed joy and distributed sweets.” (FromTruth Triumphs, publishedby a pro-RSS publication in 1997 and distributed by Sahitya Niketan, Hyderabad).

7.10. In August 1948, Shri Golwalkar began a correspondence with Pandit Nehru andSardar Patel to have the ban against the RSS lifted. His letters to both on September 24, 1948, harped on theostensible danger to India from communism, as evidenced by the “alarm-ing happenings in Burma, Indochina, Java and other neighbouring states.” Eventually, the RSS agreed to adopta written constitution, maintain regular registers of members, not ad-mitting minors without parental permission, and working openly in the cultural field only.

7.11 The RSS won back its legal status on January 12, 1949. Following the demo-lition of the Babri Masjid on December 6, 1992, the union government imposed a banon the RSS, the VHP, BD and organisations like the Jamaat-e-Islami and Islamic SevakSangh (ISS) on December 10, 1993. But the Bahri Tribunal set up under the UnlawfulActivities (Prevention ) Act, exonerated the RSS and the ban was lifted on June 4,1993. The ban on the VHP, BD and the Jamaat-e-Islami was lifted subsequently.

8. The VHP and Bajrang Dal: TheirEvolution and Role

8.1. In an RSS publication, Matrusansthas (literally, ‘mother organisations’), on thenumerous affiliates and organisations which the RSS has spawned over the decadesand which form part of the Sangh Parivar, are included the Vanvasi Kalyan Ashramand the VHP. (See Detailed Annexures, Volume III).

8.2. The VHP was born in 1964, when the RSS chief, Shri Golwalkar, met a selectgroup of sanyasis and heads of religious organisations in Mumbai with the aim oflaunching a new organisation to unite all Hindu religious sects under a single um-brella. During the first ten years of its existence, the VHP worked largely in the north-eastern states, proselytising against the Christian missionaries. But following the massconversion of Dalits to Islam in Meenakshipuram (Tamil Nadu) in 1981, it shifted itsfocus and turned against Muslims. In this new phase, it sought to enlarge and formalisethe institutional links between the high priests of Hinduism across the country. Twoapex bodies were created for this purpose – the Marg Darshak Mandal, which meetsonce or twice annually, and the Dharam Sansad, which meets only when needed. TheShankaracharyas, all heads of top maths, were given a prominent role within them andmost of them became closely identified with VHP politics.

8.3. In legal terms, the VHP was conceived of as a trust, with a 100-member boardof trustees and a 51-strong governing council. The latter body includes only onesanyasi at present, Swami Chinmayananda. An indication, perhaps, that the ultimatecontrolling power rests not with traditional religious leaders, but with the RSS patri-archs. VHP activists are called hitchintaks (well-wishers).

8.4. In a relatively short span of time, the trust has developed eighteen depart-ments. These include the Dharma Anusthan department, which organises kirtans andbhajans in temples. Another branch looks after dharma prachar (missionary work) gearedtowards ghar vapasi (reconversion, or literally, return to home) of Christians and Mus-lims. Yet another is the Acharya Vibhag, which trains pujaris (priests) for the VHP aswell as for other non-VHP run temples. The Parva Samanuyaya department co-ordi-nates common festivals with non-VHP temple committees.

8.5. Since the early ’80s the VHP has become politically visible with its aggressive‘Ramjanmabhoomi Andolan’. The declared aim was to ‘reclaim’ the ‘birthplace of LordRam’ in Ayodhya on which the Babri Masjid stood and to build a Ram temple in itsplace. Among other things, the campaign involved a series of national mobilisations— the Ekatma Yajna (1983), Shri Ramjanaki Janmabhoomi Yatra (1984), other rath yatras(1985-89), Shilapoojan and Shilanyas ceremonies at Ayodhya (1989), and finally, ShriAdvani’s rath yatra (1990). All these, except the last one, which was organised underthe BJP banner, were conceived and organised by the VHP.

8.6. While some of these yatras were for ‘consciousness-raising’, others requiredactive contributions from everyone – a brick, a rupee, or the sale of a bottle of Gangawater in each village of the country. The mobilisations were a means to claiming and,to an extent, creating ‘Hindu unity’ under the VHP’s auspices.

8.7. Of the myriad texts that exist for the eclectic faith of Hinduism, it is curious thatManusmriti and Arthashastra are treated as central by the ideologues of Hindu Rashtra. It isinteresting to remember that the Manusmriti prescribes a rigidly stratified caste and genderhierarchy, while the Arthashastra recommends a police state under a single despotic head.

8.8. In retrospect, the core concern behind the formation of the VHP was thedesire to forge ‘unity’ in a society fragmented by the rigidities of caste. Beginning with thetribals of the north-east, VHP activities then extended to Delhi, Karnataka, Orissa, AndhraPradesh, MP, Tamil Nadu, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Kerala, UP and Bihar. The ‘Hinduisation’of exploited social groups became urgent, particularly after the Meenakshipuram incident.In UP, the VHP has been wooing the forest-dwelling Kol tribes. The nature of the VHP’sactivities among such groups reveals that their inspiration is drawn entirely from the RSSworldview. On paper, the VHP is engaged mainly in educational work: setting up oflibraries, yogashramas, balwadis, student hostels and child samskar centres for the develop-ment of the knowledge of Hindu texts and Hindu national heroes. But the central thrust– though the VHP seldom describes it as such – is clearly the ‘conversion’ of tribals andDalits to Hindutva-approved forms of worship. Raghunandan Prasad Sharma’s VHP: Aims,Activities and Achievements advises the spread of the ‘chief religious samskaras’ among ‘vanvasis,girijans and harijans’. Clearly these are meant to replace existing beliefs and practices amongtribals and ensure a homogenised version of religion.

8.9. The Bajrang Dal (See http://www.hinduunity.org/bajrangdal) looks after thetraining of young boys. It calls itself by different names in different parts of the coun-try. In Bengal, for instance, it is known as the Vivekananda Vahini.

8.10. The above mentioned website describes the formation of the Bajrang Dalthus: “Vishva Hindu Parishad decided to start ‘Ram-Janaki’ rath yatra for awakeningthe society on October 1, 1984… Many elements refused to give protection to Rathand the participants. The Holy saints made a call to the Youths to protect ‘Rath’.Hundreds of youth gathered in Ayodhya. They performed their duty very well. ThusBajrang Dal was formed with a temporary and localised objective of awakening youthof UP, and get their involvement in Ramjanmabhoomi movement... In 1986, the VHPdecided to form Bajrang Dal in other states and very soon Bajrang Dal was formed inother states too, as its youth wing.” (See Detailed Annexures, Volume III).

8.11. It is clear from these assertions that whether it is the VHP, BD or the DurgaVahini, perceived wrongs against a supposedly homogenous Hindu society are playedupon to whip up sentiments against India’s religious minorities, be they artisans fromAligarh or Moradabad, peaceful residents of Faizabad or businessmen, traders and agri-culturists from Gujarat. Implicit in their agenda is aggression against fellow Indians.

8.12. The Durga Vahini wing of the VHP works among young girls and women.

8.13. Centres of the BD are often located at Hanuman mandirs where they organiseweekly satsangs (prayer meetings). The BD was largely instrumental in recruiting ur-ban youths for the ‘kar seva’ at Ayodhya.

8.14. The distortion of Indian history, in a bid to project a ‘Hindu history’ of apeople who for centuries were victims of Muslim marauders and Christian design, isat the heart of the mobilisation of these outfits. School textbooks and every otherforum of public discourse are used for this purpose.

8.15. During the Ramjanmabhoomi movement between 1989-1992, SadhviRithambara (an incendiary VHP protégé), frequently proclaimed an all-out war: ‘Khoonkharaba hota hai to ek bar hone do’ (“If there has to be bloodshed, let it happen once andfor all”). The call for blood was sufficient to instigate cadres into violence againstMuslims in Meerut, Maliana, Bhagalpur, Ahmedabad, Varanasi, Kanpur, Jaipur, Hubli,Ahmedabad, Surat, and Mumbai.

8.16. “Angry Hindu! Yes. Why not? Why are Hindus in the Dock?” An RSS booklet bythat title celebrated manufactured rage as the saving grace for the community. A HinduJagaran Manch leaflet from Khurja, published during the same period, evoked the im-age of divine vengeance, seeking Muslim blood, elevating Hindutva’s blood-thirst todivine desire: “Ranchandi khali khappar liye gali gali vichar rahi hain” (“The goddess ofwar is roaming the streets thirsting for blood”). The open call for bloody revengeunderpins the thinking of these organisations.

8.17. A distinct component of the VHP strategy to evolve an ‘all-Hindu reality’ isto mobilise Dalits to do their job so that caste Hindus can avoid getting blood on theirown hands. Thus the Valmikis (Dalits) were deployed in communal conflicts inNizamuddin (New Delhi) in 1983 and during the riots in Delhi’s walled city in 1987.A more fundamental motive seems to be the assimilation (‘Hinduisation’) of Dalitsafter their ‘trial by fire’ in Ram’s name. Dalits are invited to embrace the ideal of‘Hindu unity’ even as discrimination against them and their exploitation remains aharsh reality. A Harijan was thus given the great privilege of laying the first foundation stone at the Ram temple site in Ayodhya in 1989.

8.18. The VHP’s promotion of the Valmiki group, in particular, is significant. It co-ordinates with the Valmiki temple committees for its festivals and VHP literaturepays glowing tributes to Valmiki and Ravi Das as ‘Hindu’ religious leaders. The asso-ciation between Valmiki and Ram is striking. It is also significant that in Delhi, Valmikitemples abound and constitute practically the only visible activity of the VHP amongthe low caste groups. The strategy is to recruit the traditionally neglected and ex-ploited tribals and Valmikis to defend the high caste Hindu cause, by glorifying themeven while showing little concern for their socio-economic status.

8.19. The VHP and the BD have played an important role in Gujarat is recent years.Since the BJP came back to power in 1998, these outfits have been breaking the lawwith impunity, certain as they are of political patronage from both the state and thecentre. The Tribunal was presented with abundant examples of FIRs lodged againstthe cadre of these outfits in the past four years. The police, however, have launched no investigations. (Seechapter on Build-Up, Volume II)

9. Funding of RSS and its Affiliates

9.1. Non-resident Indians (NRIs) of Gujarat have been the lifeline of finance forHindutva organisations.

9.2. The Tribunal recorded evidence of the vast amounts of money at the SanghParivar’s disposal, to lure cadres, pay for advertisements in the mass media, print hateliterature, hold arms training camps, distribute trishuls in lakhs for free and even em-ploy fully paid cadres.

9.3. Fund-raising has become a zealous activity for the RSS and VHP, the latterknown as the World Hindu Council abroad. Evidence before us suggests thatorganisations such as the Hindu Sevak Sangh (HSS), a UK-based ‘charity’ and manysuch fronts in the US collect and contribute large sums of money to these organisations.

9.4. The VHP finances the Bajrang Dal, which remains an unregistered body, fromthe money it receives as donations for charitable work.

9.5. Evidence before the tribunal suggests that the VHP itself has floated severalorganisations through which it collects funds that are in addition to the contributionsit receives from other sources.

9.6. The most active have been VHP (USA) and VHP (UK), both of which are alsoconnected with other “charitable” societies in these countries.

9.7. The Hindu Swayamsevak Sangh (HSS), the overseas incarnation of the RSSand the Friends of India Society International (FISI), the political mobilisation wingof the HSS, work very closely with the India Development and Relief Foundation(IDRF) in the USA. The IDRF was set up as a tax-exempt, non-profit organisation in1989, under the provisions of section 501(c)(3) of the tax code in the US. Its osten-sible purpose is to raise money for organisations in India, “assisting in rural develop-ment, tribal welfare, and urban poor.” According to its tax returns, the IDRF raised $3.8 million in the year 2000, of which it disbursed $1.7 million in “relief and develop-ment work.” (From the exemption application of the IDRF filed with the IRS in 1989and Form 990 filed by the IDRF for the 2000 tax year). (http://www.hssworld.org/usa/wc/shakha/LosAngeles/rss_75years_files/frame.htm)

9.8. However, a closer scrutiny of the projects that the IDRF funds, the IDRFitself, the political affiliations of its office-bearers and of the organisations that raisefunds for it, reveals that the IDRF is closely linked with the Sangh Parivar — the RSS/VHP/BD and BJP.

9.9. Evidence placed before the Tribunal points to a strong link between the IRDFand its Indian affiliate, Sewa International. On its web site and in its literature, theIDRF lists Sewa International as ‘IDRF India’ and Shri Shyam Parande, the generalsecretary of Sewa International, as the IDRF advisor in India. And on its web site,Sewa International also states that it is “associated with the IDRF, USA and SewaInternational, UK.” (The Sewa International, UK calls itself the ‘service project’ ofHindu Seva Sangh, UK).

9.10. From the evidence before us, it is clear that Sewa International identifies itselfwith the vision of the RSS. The organisation’s affiliation with the RSS is further con-firmed by the contents of the section entitled, ‘Experiments and Results’ on SewaInternational’s web site. This section expounds the visions of many RSS leaders (andonly RSS leaders), the various “community” activities taken on by the Sangh and theresulting spread of Sangh philosophy in different areas. In some of its earlier literature,the address of Sewa International is the same as that of the RSS headquarters in Delhi.

9.11. Sevadisha, a publication of the Seva Vibhag (Service Wing) of the RSS alsolists Sewa International as an RSS affiliate, established primarily to mobilise interna-tional support for organisations working within the Parivar framework: “Yet anotherdevelopment is the establishment of an international organisation titled “Seva Intenational” which now has branches in many countries. Sewa International will lookafter the interests of sewa (service) related issues not only in the respective countrieswhere they have chapters but also take up ‘global’ level care of sewa (service) workcarried out under the Sangh ideology.”

9.12. The FISI and HSS have held fund-raising drives for the IDRF. Many of thepeople associated with the IDRF, its founders, affiliates in India and its officials haveextensive affiliations with other Hindutva organisations in this country, or the SanghParivar in India. The IDRF’s Founders: Shri Bhishma Agnihotri, a well-known RSSideologue and an HSS Sanghchalak (Chief), is one of the founders of the IDRF. Twoof the IDRF’s other founders, Shri Jatinder Kumar and Shri Ram Gehani are office-bearers of the FISI, while Shri Gehani is also associated with the organisation ‘Over-seas Friends of the BJP.’

9.13. The Tribunal has evidence that following the earthquake last year, SewaBharati, Gujarat, received a lot of funds from foreign donors as well as the Indiangovernment for rebuilding villages in Gujarat.

9.14. The Tribunal has evidence which shows that money was raised by the IDRF,through Sewa International, for five organisations belonging to the Vanvasi KalyanAshram (Vanvasi Kalyan Ashram in MP, Gujarat and Nagar Haveli; the GirivasiVanvasi Sewa Prakalp in UP and the G. Deshpande Vanvasi Vastigrah in Maharashtra).Vanvasi Kalyan Ashram is one of the major Sangh affiliated organisations active inthe tribal regions in India. From the evidence before the Tribunal, Vanvasi KalyanAshrams located in Bharuch, Vadodara, Kheda, Sabarkantha and Banaskantha dis-tricts have been very active on issues that are a clear part of the RSS agenda, as manywitnesses told the Tribunal during its visit to these areas.

9.15. Among what the IDRF describes as its affiliates, most appear to be linkedwith the vast network of organisations affiliated to the RSS. For example, the OneTeacher Schools (Ekal Vidyalays): This is a scheme started by the VHP to indoctri-nate students in remote villages (tribal villages). Different Sangh organisations haveraised money for this scheme and helped in the administration of the schools. Someof them are the Bharat Kalyan Pratishthan, the VHP, the Swami Vivekananda RuralDevelopment Society, the Friends of Tribal Society, and the Vanvasi Kalyan Ashram— all of which have been funded by the IDRF based in the USA. Recently, the EkalVidyalay Foundation has been set up as an independent organisation, but it is stillunder the control of Dr. BK Modi, the current president of VHP-Overseas.

9.16. It appears clear from the evidence placed before us that Sewa International isthe IDRF affiliate in India, overseeing its Indian operation. In terms of monetaryreimbursements, it may be the most significant ‘sister organisation’ of the IDRF. SewaInternational is a Sangh Parivar organisation that was set up primarily for co-ordinatingthe flow of foreign contributions for Sangh projects in India. Sewa International clearlyidentifies itself as a Sangh organisation and states in its mission statement that it “is anumbrella for more than 2,000 projects and programmes all over India” overseeing“more than 50,000 volunteers (swayamsevaks) involved in running 76 different typesof activities.” A swayamsevak, which literally means a ‘volunteer’, is a term that isincreasingly identified with an RSS member, especially when used in English. Thisorganisation’s RSS affiliation is further confirmed by looking at the section entitled‘Experiments and Results’ on Sewa International’s web site.

9.17. Sewa International, UK— the counterpart of IDRF in the UK, which alsoraises money for projects overseen by the Sewa International, India — is registeredunder the name of HSS, UK. Lord Adam Patel, a Labour Party peer who was a patronof this organisation, resigned from it after the Gujarat carnage, claiming that SewaInternational had “links with right wing extremist groups blamed for provoking riot-ing in India.” A newspaper from the UK reported Lord Patel as saying that he hadexamined Sewa International’s own records: “I am satisfied that Sewa International isa front for controversial militant Hindu organisations and so I have been forced toresign as one of its patrons.”

9.18. In view of the above, the Tribunal notes the lack of accountability and transpar-ency in the funding and running of organisations like the RSS/VHP/BD which have beenindicted even by several judicial commissions of inquiry for their role in communal vio-lence. Given their huge network of affiliates, religious-developmental organisations, edu-cational trusts, etc. it is difficult to fathom the manner in which funds are raised, theostensible purpose for which they are raised and for what purposes they are actually utilised.

9.19. In the course of an investigation into the tax returns and assets of the VHPunder the National Front government headed by Shri VP Singh – the income taxofficial, Shri Gupta had issued summons to VHP leaders, Shri Ashok Singhal, ShriVishnu Hari Dalmia, Mahant Nrit Gopal Das and Mahant Paramhans to questionthem on the accounts submitted for the financial year 1988-89. But using a technicalloophole, the government quashed the case within 24 hours, after senior BJP leadersthreatened to withdraw support to the government. Shri Gupta was transferred toTamil Nadu. Later, newspapers reported that the entire record of the IT returns filedby the VHP was found missing.

9.20. The Tribunal’s investigations into the Gujarat carnage reveal that free accessto funds, from abroad and India have contributed greatly to the strength of SanghParivar outfits which openly conduct armed training camps, exhort young men andwomen to violence and seriously jeopardise communal amity and internal security.

9.21. To check the spread and proliferation of hate ideology any further into the country’ssocial and political life, it is imperative that the funding sources and links of theseorganisations and their myriad outfits are immediately and thoroughly investigated.

10. Indictment in Communal Crimes

10.1. Virtually every judicial commission of inquiry officially appointed to investigatecommunal riots since Independence and Partition, has indicted organisations affiliatedwith or allied to the RSS/VHP/BD/BJP combine, including the Maharashtra-based ShivSena, for their role in violent crimes against India’s minorities. (See Detailed Annexures,Volume III).

10.2. Yet, the Indian state has been reluctant to prosecute those guilty of thesecrimes. Such failure amounts to official complicity and shows reluctance on the partof governments to give justice to a section of its citizens. The Tribunal recommendsthat such crimes are dealt with seriously and swiftly and punishments accorded sothat the demands of internal peace, justice and reconciliation are met.

10.3. Through their high-pitched, ‘Who casts the first stone?’ propaganda, Hindumajoritarian outfits seek to absolve themselves of any blame or responsibility for theviolence and bloodshed, in the public eye. Expert evidence placed before the Tribu-nal shows that in conflict after conflict, these outfits defend their actions as “justifi-able retaliatory acts by Hindus in self-defence” against attacks started by Muslims.

10.4. However, after detailed investigations, most judicial commissions of inquiryhave concluded that Hindu communal organisations systematically inject the poisonof communalism into the atmosphere and cause deliberate provocation to prompt areaction from Muslims, a reaction which is then projected as proof of Muslims havingthrown the first stone. (See Detailed Annexures, Volume III).

10.5. In their findings on the Jabalpur riots of 1967, Ahmedabad (1969),Kanyakumari (1982), Jamshedpur (1979), Ranchi (1969), Bhiwandi-Jalna, Mumbai(1970), Tellicheri (1971), the various judicial commissions of inquiry appointed bythe appropriate state and central governments to probe into the violence have in-dicted one or other member of the Sangh Parivar and other votaries of Hindutva. Thatthey have escaped subsequent action is, of course, another matter. (See DetailedAnnexures, Volume III). A singular exception was the anti-Sikh riots in November 1984where the Congress party and its then leadership must bear the blame for the massacre of 3,000 Sikhs in the nation’s capital