The Bajrang Dal has threatened to send a team of 100 volunteers to the Amarnath shrine on June 4 to take stock of the situation there. Earlier, a group of Bajrang Dal activists has tried to make their way to the shrine but were prevented by the Jammu and Kashmir police from doing so.
The Bajrang Dal activists alleged that the behaviour of the four persons had been 'suspicious' and accused them of being cattle thieves.
The Shiv Sena, a ruling party in Maharashtra, has demanded the removal of the protected monument status from Aurangzeb's tomb in Khultabad. This demand comes after protests and calls for the tomb's demolition from organizations like the Bajrang Dal and Vishwa Hindu Parishad. The Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) protects the tomb as a monument of national importance. Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis has stated that the state government will protect the tomb but will not allow the glorification of Aurangzeb.
Activists of the Bajrang Dal and the Vishwa Hindu Parishad on Friday threw rotten tomatoes at couples celebrating Valentine's Day on the banks of Sabarmati river in Ahmedabad.
Three men have been arrested in Mussoorie after a video went viral showing them assaulting two Kashmiri shawl vendors. The incident sparked outrage and led to the return of 16 Kashmiri shawl vendors to the Kashmir valley.
"As the government has failed in matters of internal security, the Bajrang Dal has started constituting security committees," Surendra Jain, a spokesman of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad, a sister Sangh Parivar outfit, told PTI in Lucknow on Wednesday.
Curfew was lifted from the remaining four areas of Nagpur in Maharashtra on Sunday, six days after violence rocked the city. The violence erupted on March 17 after rumors spread about a chadar with holy inscriptions being burnt during a protest led by the Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP) and Bajrang Dal. The rumors were later found to be baseless.
The MLA said the people indulged in stone pelting but police opened fire on them and the inspector was hit by their gunshot. "Police did not murder him deliberately," he said.
According to police sources, the arrested included Khasif (aged 30) and Syed Nadim (20), who are residents of Shivamogga, about 250 kms from Bengaluru.
Bajrang Dal activists took on a moral policing role on Tuesday, when they accosted and attacked young couples near some religious spots in Bhopal. It accused couples of promoting indecent behaviour near religious spots such as the Lord Hanuman temple.
Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis has called the violence in Nagpur a premeditated conspiracy and said the mob had targeted specific houses and establishments. The violence erupted on Monday after a protest against Mughal emperor Aurangzeb's tomb, resulting in several houses and vehicles being vandalised. At least 12 police personnel, including three deputy commissioners of police, were injured in the violence, which erupted in central Nagpur. Fadnavis, who also holds the Home portfolio, said those who attacked police personnel will not be spared.
The alleged attack has come to light amid furore over the assault on Dalits in Gujarat's Una for allegedly skinning a cow.
The British government has said it does not consider the right-wing Hindu groups VHP, RSS and Bajrang Dal as "terrorist" organisations, in remarks which may have political connotation.
The Commission in its report submitted to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh a few days back said, 'The state must keep a close watch on the activities of all such organisations that have contributed to the breakdown of communal harmony there. Remedial action, including a ban and prosecution should be initiated. Communal harmony should be maintained at all costs.'
A fact-finding committee, comprising of human rights activists formed to look into the recent violence in Mangalore, has stated that the attacks were carried out by the Bajrang Dal and the Sri Rama Sene (a local Hindu group). The team said the 'planned attacks' were aimed at causing hurt and resentment among Christians. It was also used as a pretext by the police to let lose a savage assault on the community and its sacred institutions, the report said.
The Bajrang Dal chief was picked up by the police under provisions of Section 153A of the Indian Penal Code. The section deals with promoting enmity between different groups on ground of religion, race, place of birth, residence, language, etc., and doing acts prejudicial to maintenance of harmony.
Minority Democratic Party (MDP) leader Fahim Khan has been arrested in connection with the violence that erupted in Nagpur on Monday after Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) workers staged an agitation for the removal of Aurangzeb's tomb. Khan's name is mentioned in one of six FIRs registered so far, along with 50 others. Police are investigating whether Khan played any role in instigating the riots. Khan, along with eight others, had allegedly gathered outside a police station and submitted a memorandum against the VHP's protest. Subsequently, he went to another area where a large group of people from a minority community had gathered. Police are searching for those named in the FIRs and are investigating whether the accused had any role in planning the violence. The violence erupted amid rumors that a 'chadar' with holy inscriptions was burnt during the VHP's protest.
An enrolment of 25 lakh youths to mark the completion of 25 years and various other programmes have been drawn up for the celebrations that will end up with training camps in all 938 districts of the country in December, 2009. The outfit says that it would give an open call to the government at the Delhi rally to ban their outfit 'engaged in nationalist activities'.
Before the violence and rioting that erupted in Nagpur on Monday, March 17, over Mughal emperor Aurangzeb's tomb came provocative statements from various political leaders.
According to official sources, there was stone pelting when the body of the deceased Harsha was being taken from District McGann Hospital in Shivamogga.
The city unit of the VHP on Tuesday said it would stage protests on the riverfront against the Valentine's Day celebrations, which, the outfit claimed was "against Indian culture".
Curfew has been lifted in Nagpur after six days of violence that rocked the city. The situation is now peaceful, according to Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis. The violence, which began on March 17, was sparked by rumors that a "chadar" with holy inscriptions was burned during protests by the VHP and Bajrang Dal demanding the removal of Mughal emperor Aurangzeb's tomb. The police have arrested more than 100 people in connection with the violence.
The retired Supreme Court judge probing the Godhra incident and the riots that followed it said it will be wrong to say the riots targeted one community.
The CPM leader claimed that the recent incidents in Orissa have highlighted the use of violence by these outfits against Christians, including the use of weapons and inflammatory materials to burn houses and churches
"Alleged Bajrang Dal elements were involved in vandalising churches, prayer halls and schools," Special Secretary (Internal Security) in the Ministry M L Kumawat said after camping in the violence-hit areas of the state for two days.
"Who is Aurangzeb? Why should we allow his glorification in our state? He is a blot on our history," the deputy chief minister said in his closing remarks.
"When police were writing complaint as we had asked for, why would Bajrang Dal protest?" he says.
They burnt Valentine's Day cards, and shouted slogans against the 'Western' concept. They also burnt an effigy of St Valentine, the priest of love.
As the infuriated mob blocked traffic and targeted RTC buses demanding action against the officials of the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation for the removal of the road side 'Pochamma temple', the police used lathis to disperse the crowd.
The police on Sunday detained 53 Bajrang Dal activists after foiling their bid to move towards Baltal base camp of Amarnath cave shrine in Kashmir, ahead of the commencement of the annual pilgrimage in June. Flagged off by Vishwa Hindu Parishad state chief Rama Kant Dubey from Jammu city, a group of 150 members boarded two buses and left for Kashmir Valley. They were intercepted by the police on the Jammu-Srinagar National Highway at Jajjarkotli, 35 km from Jammu.
Khan is seen putting pressure on women contestants to perform intimate acts on camera in the clip. The conversation also appears to make some of the participants uncomfortable with probing, personal questions bordering on the vulgar.
The Supreme Court on Tuesday dismissed the argument that a three-judge bench, rather than a two-judge bench, should hear appeals of convicts in the 2002 Godhra train burning case. The court found that the Gujarat High Court commuted the death penalty to life imprisonment, therefore not requiring a three-judge bench. The hearing of the appeals will continue on Wednesday, with the state government seeking restoration of the death sentences of 11 convicts.
Director General of School Education Jharna Kamthan has also asked the chief education officer of Tehri Garhwal district in Uttarakhand to investigate the matter.
According to a police officer, the arrest was made following complaints by the public that the juice seller had been serving fruit juice to the customers after mixing human urine in it.
Sharma told PTI that dozens of members from right-wing organisations, including the Bajrang Dal and the VHP, participated in the demonstration, chanting the Hanuman Chalisa.
A group of overzealous Bajrang Dal activists protesting against Valentine's Day celebrations chased a brother and sister and misbehaved with them in Ujjain in Madhya Pradesh.
Violence erupted in central Nagpur at around 7.30 pm om Monday with stones hurled at police amid rumours that the holy book of a community was burnt during an agitation by a right-wing outfit for the removal of Aurangzeb's tomb, leaving six persons and three policemen injured, officials said.
Maharashtra has witnessed 823 incidents of communal unrest since January this year, with demands for the removal of Aurangzeb's tomb and the spread of distorted facts on social media fomenting fresh trouble. Districts like Nandurbar, Pune (Rural), Ratnagiri, Sangli, Beed, and Satara have seen communal unrest in recent days due to right-wing organizations' demands for the demolition of the Mughal emperor's tomb in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar. The state witnessed 4,836 Hindu-Muslim related communal crimes in 2024, with 170 incidents classified as cognisable and 3,106 as non-cognisable cases. The violence in Nagpur, triggered by protests demanding the removal of Aurangzeb's tomb, highlights the role of social media in spreading inflammatory content and instigating people. While the state has taken measures to curb the spread of misinformation, concerns remain over the impact on communities and the need for promoting peace and understanding.
The arrest of six activists of Hindu Vahini and 15 members of Bajrang Dal in Hyderabad on Tuesday has revealed a conspiracy to stir up communal trouble in the city by attacking minority community members.
© 2026 Rediff.com - Investor Information - Advertise with us - Disclaimer - Privacy Policy - Sitemap - Feedback - About us - Terms of use - Grievances