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The Durga Vahini (Army of Durga) is the women's wing of the Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP). It was established in 1991 and its founding chairperson is Sadhvi Rithambara. The Durga Vahini is often considered to be the female face of the hardliner Bajrang Dal and have actively contributed to instigating violence against religious minorities. The organization is described as a militant outfit, right-wing religious fundamentalist group and a proto-fascistic young women's wing.

The Vishva Hindu Parishad states the purpose of the Durga Vahini is to encourage more women to participate in prayer meetings and in cultural activities. Kalpana Vyash, a senior leader of the organization, said that the Durga Vahini members dedicate themselves "to physical, mental and knowledge development". According to Vyash, the total membership of the organization is 8,000 as of 2002, and 1,000 members are from Ahmedabad.

Mala Khullar and Ihwa Yŏja Taehakkyo in their book Writing the Women's Movement: A Reader writes:

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.

The Durga Vahini aggressively recruits young women from low-income earning and lower caste families. Members learn karate and lathi, 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 Muslim people who they view as enemy and to fight on the front lines in places like Ayodhya.

Controversies

• In the Bijnor riot in 1990, activists belonging to the Durga Vahini organized a possession of Hindu men through the Muslim quarters of Bijor shouting provocative slogans which started violence.

• On March 16, 2002, Durga Vahini activists wielding trident and sporting saffron headbands, stormed and ransacked the Orissa Assembly along with VHP and Bajrang Dal members.

• The Durga Vahini participated in the 2002 Gujarat violence. 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 Godhra mayhem. 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".

• Six members of the Durga Vahini were arrested in Gwalior 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 Rama, Sita, Laxman and Hanuman in "indecent" way. The activists also damaged the furnitures in Sapra's home.

• In 2006, women belonging to the Durga Vahini, leaded by Bajrang Dal activist Babu Bajrangi, terrorized and mercilessly 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 waving hockey sticks and baseball bats. Babu Bajrangi labeled these Durga Vahini members as "the Rani of Jhansi" 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 said, "None of the students beaten up were Muslims. They asked for name or religion and went about beating up the youths".

References

1. ^ "Women 'Ram Bhakt' hog limelight" (HTML). The Tribune. 2002-04-11. Retrieved 2008-06-29. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
2. Bob Pease, Keith Pringle (2001). A Man's World?: Changing Men's Practices in a Globalized World. Zed Books. pp. p226. ISBN 185649912X. {{cite book}}: |pages= has extra text (help)
3. ^ Fiona Wilson, Bodil Folke Frederiksen (1995). Ethnicity, Gender, and the Subversion of Nationalism. Routledge. pp. p91. ISBN 0714641553. {{cite book}}: |pages= has extra text (help)
4. ^ Joanna Kerr, Alison Symington (2005). The Future of Women's Rights. Zed Books. pp. p81. ISBN 184277459X. {{cite book}}: |pages= has extra text (help)
5. Chetan Bhatt (1997). Liberation and Purity. Routledge. pp. p168. ISBN 1857284240. {{cite book}}: |pages= has extra text (help)
6. Mala Khullar, Ihwa Yŏja Taehakkyo (2005). Writing the Women's Movement: A Reader. Zubaan. pp. p65. ISBN 8186706992. {{cite book}}: |pages= has extra text (help)
7. Feminist Review: Issue 49. Routledge. 1995. pp. p15. ISBN 0415123755. {{cite book}}: |pages= has extra text (help)
8. David E. Ludden (1996). Contesting the Nation: Religion, Community, and the Politics of Democracy in India. University of Pennsylvania Press. pp. p77. ISBN 0812215850. {{cite book}}: |pages= has extra text (help)
9. "Next Stop Orissa" (HTML). Tehelka. 2008-01-19. Retrieved 2008-06-29. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
10. Anjum Niaz (2002-09-01). "'Stop funding fascist Hindus!'" (HTML). Dawn. Retrieved 2008-06-29. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
11. "'Durga Vahini' activists held" (HTML). The Hindu. 2004-05-15. Retrieved 2008-06-29. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
12. "Bajrang Dal rally takes violent turn" (HTML). Express India. 2006-10-12. Retrieved 2008-06-29. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
13. "The day after: Cops say Babu Bajrangi is absconding, can't identify culprits" (HTML). Express India. 2006-11-12. Retrieved 2008-06-29. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)

• Organizations based in India
• Sangh Parivar
• Religious violence in India