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}}</ref> According to Vyash, the total membership of the group is 8,000 as of 2002, and 1,000 members are from ].<ref name=TRIBUNE/> |
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}}</ref> According to Vyash, the total membership of the group is 8,000 as of 2002, and 1,000 members are from ].<ref name=TRIBUNE/> |
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The Durga Vahini is often considered to be the female face of the hardliner ]<ref name=TRIBUNE/> and have actively contributed to instigating violence against religious minorities.<ref name="MWCMPGW">{{cite book |
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|author= Bob Pease, Keith Pringle |
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|title= A Man's World?: Changing Men's Practices in a Globalized World |
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|publisher= Zed Books |
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|location= |
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|year= 2001 |
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|pages= p226 |
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|isbn= 185649912X |
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}}</ref> The organization has been accused of being a ] outfit,<ref name="EGSN">{{cite book |
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|author= Fiona Wilson, Bodil Folke Frederiksen |
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|title= Ethnicity, Gender, and the Subversion of Nationalism |
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|publisher= Routledge |
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|location= |
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|year= 1995 |
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|pages= p91 |
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|isbn= 0714641553 |
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}}</ref> right-wing ] group<ref name="FWR">{{cite book |
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|author= Joanna Kerr, Alison Symington |
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|title= The Future of Women's Rights |
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|publisher= Zed Books |
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|location= |
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|year= 2005 |
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|pages= p81 |
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|isbn= 184277459X |
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}}</ref> and a proto-]ic young women's wing.<ref name="LP">{{cite book |
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|author= Chetan Bhatt |
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|title= Liberation and Purity |
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|publisher= Routledge |
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|location= |
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|year= 1997 |
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|pages= p168 |
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|isbn= 1857284240 |
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}}</ref> |
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Mala Khullar and Ihwa Yŏja Taehakkyo in their book ''Writing the Women's Movement: A Reader'' writes: |
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{{cquote|The fundamentalist/communalist organizations, aware of the ferment in women's minds, are today making a bid to channelize/harness the nascent consciousness about women's rights for their own purpose. Taking advantage of women's deep attachment to religion they are today floating new organizations and fronts such as the Hindu Mahila Sammelan and the Durga Vahini, wherein women's role as mothers, progenitors and defenders of the faith, etc., are highlighted along with their role in the family.<ref name="WWMR">{{cite book |
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|author= Mala Khullar, Ihwa Yŏja Taehakkyo |
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|title= Writing the Women's Movement: A Reader |
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|publisher= Zubaan |
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|location= |
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|year= 2005 |
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|pages= p65 |
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|isbn= 8186706992 |
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}}</ref> |
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}} |
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The Durga Vahini aggressively recruits<ref name="FWR"/> young women from low-income earning and lower caste families. Members learn ] and '']'', and receive ideological education. The organization especially recruits young girls for carrying risky tasks of militant activism in which much physical strength is required, for example confronting ] people who they view as enemy<ref name="EGSN"/> and to fight on the front lines in places like ].<ref name="FR">{{cite book |
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|author= |
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|title= Feminist Review: Issue 49 |
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|publisher= Routledge |
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|location= |
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|year= 1995 |
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|pages= p13 |
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|isbn= 0415123755 |
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}}</ref> |
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==Controversies== |
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*In the ] riot in 1990, activists belonging to the Durga Vahini organized a procession of Hindu men through the Muslim quarters of Bijor shouting provocative slogans which started violence.<ref name="CN">{{cite book |
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|author= David E. Ludden |
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|title= Contesting the Nation: Religion, Community, and the Politics of Democracy in India |
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|publisher= ] |
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|location= |
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|year= 1996 |
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|pages= p77 |
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|isbn= 0812215850 |
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}}</ref> |
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*On March 16, 2002, Durga Vahini activists wielding tridents and sporting saffron headbands ransacked the Orissa Assembly along with VHP and Bajrang Dal members.<ref name=TEHELKANSO>{{cite web|url=http://www.tehelka.com/story_main37.asp?filename=Ne190108next_stop.asp|title=Next Stop Orissa|author=S. Anand|date=2008-01-19|format=HTML|accessdate=2008-06-29|publisher='']''}}</ref> |
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*The Durga Vahini participated in the ].<ref name=DAWNSFFH>{{cite web|url=http://www.dawn.com/weekly/dmag/archive/020901/dmag12.htm|title='Stop funding fascist Hindus!'|author=Anjum Niaz|date=2002-09-01|format=HTML|accessdate=2008-06-29|publisher='']''}}</ref> Regarding the Durga Vahini's role in the riots, VHP spokesman Kaushikbahi Mehta said, "We in the VHP had nothing to do with the violence except to take care of widows and victims of the ]. So was the case with the Durga Vahini". But many people claimed that white-churidar clad girls were involved in the violence. A senior police official said, "They were found providing healing touch to the male activists, information back-up and if the ethnic cleansing theory is true, I have a feeling they played a significant role in intelligence network as well. While it will be very difficult to prove their direct involvement, women Sanghis had definitely scrutinised voters’ list or the traders’ licence papers to screen the minorities with an innocuous intention".<ref name=TRIBUNE/> |
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*Six members of the Durga Vahini were arrested in ] in March 2004 for blackening the face of Neetu Sapra, director of the play ''Kal Aaj Aur Kal''. The Vishva Hindu Parishad and the Bajrang Dal claimed the play depicted ], ], ] and ] in "indecent" way. The activists also damaged the furnitures in Sapra's home.<ref name=HINDU>{{cite web|url=http://www.hinduonnet.com/2004/03/15/stories/2004031509931500.htm|title='Durga Vahini' activists held|date=2004-05-15|format=HTML|accessdate=2008-06-29|publisher='']''}}</ref> |
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*In 2006, women belonging to the Durga Vahini, leaded by Bajrang Dal activist ], beat up boys and girls at the Gujarat College and Sahjanand College in a ''Chetavani Abhiyan'' (warning campaign) acting as "moral police". Even those sitting in college canteens were also beaten. The women activists threatened the youngsters by waving hockey sticks and baseball bats. Babu Bajrangi labeled these Durga Vahini members as "the ]" and said "I will not stop my drive against Muslims youths trying to defile Hindu girls". However they did not find any Muslim man and manhandled anyone sitting with a girl. Virendra Chauhan, the general secretary of the Gujarat College, who was also beaten up by the activists<ref name=EXPRESSINDIABDRTVT>{{cite web|url=http://cities.expressindia.com/fullstory.php?newsid=212650|title=Bajrang Dal rally takes violent turn|date=2006-10-12|format=HTML|accessdate=2008-06-29|publisher=''Express India''}}</ref> said, "None of the students beaten up were Muslims. They asked for name or religion and went about beating up the youths".<ref name=EXPRESSINDIADACSBBACIC>{{cite web|url=http://cities.expressindia.com/fullstory.php?newsid=212764|title=The day after: Cops say Babu Bajrangi is absconding, can’t identify culprits|date=2006-11-12|format=HTML|accessdate=2008-06-29|publisher=''Express India''}}</ref> |
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==References== |
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==References== |