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Hindustan for Hindus, Pakistan go to hell is mantra at Durga Vahini camp
Girls here are trained to be warriors and wives - they must be strong enough to break the bones of the enemy but docile enough to never question their husbands, a BBC report says
Tuesday November 11, 2014 3:18 PM, Agencies

Offering a rare image inside a radical Hindu camp, an Indian-Canadian filmmaker has explored how attendants are trained to propagate Hinduism and take up arms to defend the "Hindu nation".

Durga Vahini Camp

"We'll die for our beliefs!" postures one young girl, Indian-Canadian filmmaker Nisha Pahuja told BBC.

"We'll kill anyone who gets in our way!" yells another.

After two years of attempts, Pahuja has been finally able to get the permission to make a documentary on Durga Vahini, an Indian camp for radical Hindu women.

Titled "The World Before Her", the documentary describes how the minds and personalities of the Hindu girls can be changed within 10 days in Durga Vahini camp.

"It is the final day of the 10-day Durga Vahini camp. Eighty girls are on their way to march and chant through the streets of the western city of Aurangabad," Pahuja said, according to the BBC.

"They are about to proudly proclaim India a Hindu nation", the report added.

Held in Maharashtra's western city of Aurangabad, the camp is organized by the Durga Vahini, the women's wing of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP).

The VHP is the cultural arm of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), the largest Hindu nationalist group in India.

Chanting "Hindustan is for Hindus. Pakistan can go to hell!" on their way to home, Durga Vahini dressed in white salwaar kameez (pyjamas and long tunics) and saffron-colored dupattas (scarves).

RSS was founded by Keshav Baliram Hedgewar, an independence campaigner who had split from the Indian National Congress party over what he considered "undue pampering of the Muslims."

Launched in 1925, the group has been banned thrice by the Indian government in 1948 and 1970s and 1990s.

Surrounded by ambiguity, the group faces accusations of fueling religious conflicts by their opposition to the Indian constitution's article No 370 which grants Kashmir its special position.

Moreover, they have campaigned for years to support Ram temple in Ayodhya, on a spot where 16th-century Babri mosque once stood.

Aged between 13 and 25, the shy and naive young women became more confident and stronger, seemingly carrying much hatred toward Muslims and Christians after the 10-day camp.

"And they are trained to be warriors and wives - they must be strong enough to break the bones of the enemy but docile enough to never question their husbands," the BBC report said.

"The Durga Vahini leadership is blind to this duality - but that it has repercussions is abundantly clear", the report added.

Undergoing a military-style combat training, the girls imbibe a revisionist history that promotes "Hindu supremacy" and posits "Hinduism as the only legitimate religion" in the Indian subcontinent.

"They are also taught to see their role in the defense and propagation of Hinduism as a service to their country," the report added.

Considering working for Durga Vahini a symbol of dignity and freedom, the enthusiastic camp leaders tell the radicalized girls: "You could be put in jail for what you are saying!"

On the last day of camp, as a group of girls boarded the van that was taking them home, Pansaray, one of the camp seniors, put her hands together and said: 'Forgive us if we've done anything wrong', according to the report.

"I still find that one of the most moving lines in the film. It reminds me that all of us are often dictated by forces we cannot see," it added.

About a fifth of India's 1.27 billion people identify themselves as belonging to faiths other than Hinduism, including more than 175 million Muslims.

With one of their group at the top of the world's second-most populous country, RSS leaders see Modi's term as their golden age.

Prime Minister Modi, from Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), has been active in RSS group since childhood.

Offering Modi unprecedented support, RSS volunteers went from door to door to convince people to support their colleague in what was seen as the biggest mobilization since 1977 when RSS workers did the same thing, encouraging people to vote against Indira Gandhi.




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