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Hindu Parishad (VHP), on the one hand, and the BJP as well as other Parivar affiliates, on the other. This<br />
instruction from the RSS leadership comes close on the heels<br />
of VHP leader Pravin Togadia's sharp criticism of Advani for pub licly admitting that the Gujarat ri ots had<br />
been a blot on the NDA. Some senior VHP leaders like Acharya Giriraj Kishore had also come down<br />
heavily on Advani for diluting the Hindutva agenda this time around. But by throwing its weight behind the<br />
BJP, the RSS has made clear its priority to rein state the Vajpayee government. The move also reveals<br />
that the RSS' reservations about some of the formulations in the BJP's ' vision Document <strong>2004</strong> are not so<br />
se rious as to cause a family discord in the run-up to the LS polls. (Times of India 12.3.04)<br />
Crucial RSS meeting begins today (26)<br />
JAIPUR, MARCH 11. The crucial meeting of the Pratinidhi Sabha -- the top decision-making body of the<br />
Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh will begin at Jamdoli near here tomorrow against the backdrop of the RSS<br />
emphasising the need to incorporate its stand on various issues in the Bharatiya Janata Party's manifesto<br />
for the coming Lok Sabha elections. The agenda for the three-day conclave and the resolutions to be<br />
presented in the meet were finalised at a meeting of the Akhil Bharati ya Karyakari Mandal of the RSS at<br />
the venue, Keshav Vidyapeeth, today. About 350 function aries of the levels of Pracharak, Sanghchalak<br />
and Karyawah discussed the issues to be raised in the conclave during four marathon sessions. The<br />
Kshetriya Prachar Pramukh of the RSS, K.L. Chaturvedi, said the day-long meeting re viewed the current<br />
state of the organisation and the scope of its expansion across the coun try. The participants discussed the<br />
status of 'shakhas' and the public contact drive as well as the draft of resolutions to be submitted for<br />
consideration of the Pratinidhi Sabha. Among others, the RSS Sarsanghchalak, K.S. Sudershan, and the<br />
Sarkaryawah, Mohanrao Bhag-wat, attended the executive committee meeting. However, Mr. Chaturvedi<br />
did not specify the subjects which would be taken up by .the 1,340 delegates from across the country<br />
during the conclave, being held in Rajasthan for the first time. (The Hindu 12.3.04)<br />
14 th March<br />
Hindutva not discarded: Advani (26)<br />
BANGALORE, MARCH 13. The Deputy Prime Minister, L.K. Advani, on Saturday said the Bharatiya<br />
Janata Party had not discarded "Hindutva" as "it is a way of life" for the party. Addressing a press<br />
conference here, he said the BJP had never said that it was not pushing the Hindutva line, but it was<br />
emphasising on "good governance, security and stability." Hindus, he said, constituted 82 per cent of the<br />
country's population. But the NDA Government was concerned about 100 per cent of the pop ulation. "But<br />
there are political parties which are concerned with only 18 per cent (of the popula tion) and these parties<br />
are under the presum ption that they can be appealed to in the name of religion/minorities. This approach<br />
is wrong," he said in reply to a question on whether the BJP had softened its Hindutva stand. He said<br />
Gandhiji used to identify himself as a Hindu. "But now, if you say so, it is considered heresy." (The Hindu<br />
14.3.04)<br />
16 th March<br />
Bajrang Dal sets itself as moral policing force (26)<br />
Bhopal, March 15: Heaping insults and poking fun at gods in the Hindu pantheon, howsoever<br />
light-hearted, is increasingly inviting swift retribution from the Vishwa Hindu Parishad and Bajrang Dal<br />
under the BJP regime in Madhya Pradesh. Gentle blackening of the offender's visage is the form it usually<br />
takes. At least two separate cases in Gwalior have confirmed the colourful trend. In the first incident<br />
Which occurred on March 9th, the director of the <strong>Institute</strong> of Travel and Tourism, Mr Devendra Singhai (an<br />
IAS officer) had the pleasure of having his face painted with black polish by a bunch of obstreperous<br />
Bajrang Dal men for allowing a spoof to be staged on the Ramayana titled Kal Aaj aur Kal at the institute's<br />
annual function. The nobility of dramatis personae like Ram, Sita, and Dushrath was held up to ridicule<br />
with the help of remixed Bollywood numbers. Attempts by Mr Singhai to remind his chastisers that an<br />
apology had already been furnished for the hurt, if any, fell on deaf ears. Gwalior superintendent of police<br />
Adarsh Katiyar told this newspaper that six Bajrangis were put behind bars for 48 hours for barging into Mr<br />
Singhai's house, and taking the law into their own hands. He, however, confessed that staging such a play<br />
could have been avoided though no there was no valid ground to impute a mens rea into the act. (Asian<br />
Age 16.3.04)<br />
18th March
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