Around 400 men received training on handling arms, including small guns at the Rashtriya Bajrang Dal camp. The participants were trained in martial arts, weapons, survival skills, quick thinking, politics and Vedic rituals
Team Clarion
NEW DELHI — The Darrang District Police in Assam on Tuesday registered a case against the Rashtriya Bajrang Dal for organising a seven-day camp from July 24 to 30 where men aged 18 to 30 were given weapons training.
This came after the state police chief directed the Superintendent of Darrang Police to register a case and take lawful action against those involved, media reports reaching here said on Wednesday.
The case was registered under Sections 153A (promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion, race, etc) and 34 (acts done by several people with common intention) of the Indian Penal Code.
Around 400 men received training on handling arms, including small guns at the Rashtriya Bajrang Dal camp. The participants were trained in martial arts, weapons, survival skills, quick thinking, politics and Vedic rituals, an India Today report said.
Dinesh Kalita, president of Rashtriya Bajrang Dal’s Assam chapter, said: “We organised a camp in Darrang district from July 24 with 400 karyakartas (workers) from across 28 districts of the state undergoing training in various forms. They were trained in different forms of martial arts, including the use of swords, archery and small firearms to counter enemies.”
He said arms experts trained the karyakartas. Discussions were held on how to make India a Hindu rashtra (nation) and how to counter ‘Love Jihad’ as well. “Our motive is to celebrate ‘Akhand Bharat Diwas’ in the days to come…We were told by both the central as well as state governments that there would be a strict law against “love jihad” but it has been seven years and no such law has been enacted,” he was quoted as saying.
Assam Trinamool Congress chief Ripun Bora questioned why the BJP government in the state was silent on the training camp. He said arms training among the public is not allowed under the law and there is no such provision in the Constitution.
Slamming Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, Bora said: “The chief minister bulldozed a madrassa on the ground that jihadi activities were going on there, but now we want to question why the chief minister of Assam is not taking action even when there is enough evidence and video footage of arms training in Vidya Mandir in the heart of the Mangaldai town by the Rashtriya Bajrang Dal.”
The TMC leader also said the BJP is playing a game to terrorise the people in the country and to divide them in the name of religion. “They want to fight the upcoming 2024 election on this basis,” the India Today report quoted Bora as saying.
Congress leader and Leader of Opposition in the state assembly, Debabrata Saikia wrote a letter to the chief minister and demanded action against the organisers of the camp. He also demanded an impartial inquiry into the role of the district administration in either being unaware or giving permission to the organisers to hold such a camp where the members were given arms training on a school campus.
Aminul Islam, a leader of the All India United Democratic Front, slammed the training camp and said, “The agenda for the training was countering ‘Love Jihad’. The hate speeches during the camp ensure that they were in complete coordination with the government because how else could they get the permission and license for the arms training?”
“Since the elections are about to happen in Assam, the RSS, BJP and the Bajrang Dal are trying to bring in conflict so that there is polarisation of votes,” said Aminul.
