We Have No Orders to Save You - Human Rights Watch

state. 17 The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (National Volunteer Corps, RSS) was founded in the city of Nagpur
in 1925 by Keshav Baliram Hedgewar with the mission of creating a Hindu state. Since its founding, it has
propagated a militant form of Hindu nationalism, which it promotes as the sole basis for national identity in India.
According to the RSS, the leaders of India’s nationalist movement and of post-independence India failed to create
a nation based on Hindu culture. Western thought and civilization are perceived as enemies of Hindu culture.
Religions such as Islam and Christianity are depicted as alien to India; they are seen as the religions of foreign
invaders_the Mughals and the British. The RSS wanted “the entire gamut of social life” to be designed “on the
rock bed of Hindu nationalism,” a goal that inspired the creation of RSS political, social, and educational wings, a
family of organizations that, as noted above, is now referred to collectively as the sangh parivar. 18
The VHP was formed in 1964 to cover the social aspects of RSS activities. The VHP organizes and communicates
the RSS message to Hindus living outside India and holds conferences for Hindu religious leaders from all over
the country. The most publicized of the VHP’s activities was its Ram temple campaign in Ayodhya (see above).
The VHP has also organized programs to reconvert those who have converted from Hinduism to other faiths. The
Bajrang Dal is the militant youth wing of the VHP. It was formed in 1984 during the Babri Masjid conflict, in
order to mobilize youth for the Ram temple campaign. The Jana Sangh Party was formed in 1951 as the political
wing of the RSS, and later replaced by the BJP in 1980. The BJP heads India’s coalition government. Gujarat,
one of few Indian states led by the BJP, has earned the dubious reputation of being a laboratory for the Hindutva
agenda. Since the BJP first assumed power in Gujarat in 1995, it has stacked the government’s inner ranks with
VHP and RSS members and others that shared and would actively promote sangh parivar policies and
programs. 19
Distribution of Weapons and Training by the Sangh Parivar
The Citizens’ Tribunal report also detailed the extent of organization and planning by sangh parivar groups that
carried out the attacks. Before the anti-Muslim pogrom, tridents and swords were distributed freely throughout
Gujarat and were extensively employed as weapons in the killings. Evidence collected by the Citizens’ Tribunal
from Ahmedabad, Kheda, Bharuch, Ankleshwar, Panchmahal, Mehsana, Sabarkantha, Banaskantha, and
Vadodara, revealed that,
training camps were conducted by the Bajrang Dal and the VHP, backed by the RSS and
supported by democratically elected representatives from the ruling BJP. The camps were often
conducted in temples. The aim was to generate intense hatred against Muslims painted as ‘the
enemy’, because of which violence was both glorified through the distribution of trishuls
[tridents] and swords, and justified as the legitimate means to self-defence. 20
Shakhas or training camps have long been operational in Gujarat and have experienced increased enrollment since
the events of February and March 2002. 21 Trishul diksha or trident distribution programs were introduced in
Gujarat fourteen years ago. According to VHP statistics, more than 280,000 youth have been given “this
17 For more on the sangh parivar, see Human Rights Watch, “We Have No Orders to Save You,” pp. 39-40.
18 Ibid .; Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, “ Sangh’s March,” in Widening Horizons [online],
http://www.rss.org/library/books/wideninghorizons/ch9.html (retrieved September 1999).
19 Human Rights Watch, “We Have No Orders to Save You,” pp. 41-43.
20 Concerned Citizens Tribunal, Crime Against Humanity , vol. II, p. 25 (emphasis in original). The Concerned Citizens’
Tribunal report continues: “Six months before the carnage, the tempo of communal mobilisation had increased in a number
of villages, with the launch of the shilapujan connected to the building of the Ram temple in Ayodhya. ‘Trishul diksha’
programmes, in which trishuls were distributed at large gatherings, were also organised in a number of areas during the same
period. Pranti (Sabarkantha), Sanjeli, Pandharwada and villages from all over Khanpur taluka (Panchmahal) reported such
meetings. These meetings were only held in villages where there were Muslims and where openly threatening the latter
appeared to be one of the main objectives of the assembly.” Ibid., p. 36. A shilapujan is a ceremony for the consecration of
foundation stones for temple building.
21 Anil Pathak, “ RSS Shakhas Poised to Swell in State,” Times of India , May 29, 2002. For more on the recuitment,
methodology, and funding of the camps, see Concerned Citizens Tribunal, Crime Against Humanity, vol. II, pp. 55-59.
HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH 13 JULY 2003, Vol. 15, No. 3 (C)