Durga Vahini

2022-06-10T16:41:20Z

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{{EngvarB|date=January 2015}}{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2015}}
The '''Durga Vahini''' ([[ISO 15919|ISO]]: Durgā Vāhinī ) (''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 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".<ref name=TRIBUNE>{{cite web|url=http://www.tribuneindia.com/2002/20020412/nation.htm#7|title=Women 'Ram Bhakt' hog limelight|date=2002-04-11|access-date=2008-06-29|newspaper=[[The Tribune (Chandigarh)|The Tribune]]}}</ref> The aim of the organization is to establish Hindu solidarity by helping Hindu families during the time of hardship and by providing social services.<ref name="AGWAPRSA">{{cite book
|author= Patricia Jeffery, Amrita Basu
|title= Appropriating Gender: Women's Activism and Politicized Religion in South Asia
|publisher= Routledge
|year= 1997
|pages= 168
|isbn= 0-415-91866-9
}}</ref> According to Vyash, the total membership of the group is 8,000 as of 2002, and 1,000 members are from [[Ahmedabad]].<ref name=TRIBUNE/>

{{Infobox organisation
| parent_organisation = [[Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh]]
[[Vishwa Hindu Parishad]]
| affiliation = [[Sangh Parivar]]
}}

==Activities and ideology==

The Durga Vahini is often considered to be the female face of the hardliner [[Bajrang Dal]]<ref name=TRIBUNE/> The organization is described as a [[militant]] outfit,<ref name="EGSN">{{cite book
|author= Fiona Wilson, Bodil Folke Frederiksen
|title= Ethnicity, Gender, and the Subversion of Nationalism
|publisher= Routledge
|year= 1995
|pages= 91
|isbn= 0-7146-4155-3
}}</ref> right-wing [[religious fundamentalist]] group.<ref name="FWR">{{cite book
|author= Joanna Kerr, Alison Symington
|title= The Future of Women's Rights
|publisher= Zed Books
|year= 2005
|pages= 81
|isbn= 1-84277-459-X
}}</ref>

The Durga Vahini aggressively recruits<ref name="FWR"/> young women from low-income earning families. Members learn [[karate]] and ''[[lathi khela|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<ref name="EGSN"/> and to fight on the front lines in places like [[Ayodhya]].<ref name="FR">{{cite book
|title= Feminist Review: Issue 49
|publisher= Routledge
|year= 1995
|pages= 13
|isbn= 0-415-12375-5
}}</ref>

In the [[Bijnor]] 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
|author= David E. Ludden
|title= Contesting the Nation: Religion, Community, and the Politics of Democracy in India
|publisher= [[University of Pennsylvania Press]]
|year= 1996
|pages= 77
|isbn= 0-8122-1585-0
}}</ref>

On 16 March 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 magazine |url=http://www.tehelka.com/story_main37.asp?filename=Ne190108next_stop.asp|title=Next Stop Orissa|author=S. Anand|date=2008-01-19|access-date=2008-06-29|magazine=[[Tehelka]]}}</ref>

The Durga Vahini alleged to have participated in the [[2002 Gujarat violence]].<ref name=DAWNSFFH>{{cite news|url=http://www.dawn.com/weekly/dmag/archive/020901/dmag12.htm |title='Stop funding fascist Hindus!' |author=Anjum Niaz |date=2002-09-01 |access-date=2008-06-29 |newspaper=[[Dawn (newspaper)|Dawn]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070713084648/http://www.dawn.com/weekly/dmag/archive/020901/dmag12.htm |archive-date=13 July 2007 }}</ref> Durga Vahini has denied such allegations. 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 train burning|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".<ref name=TRIBUNE/>

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.<ref name=HINDU>{{cite news |url=http://www.hinduonnet.com/2004/03/15/stories/2004031509931500.htm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100802233650/http://www.hinduonnet.com/2004/03/15/stories/2004031509931500.htm|url-status=usurped|archive-date=2 August 2010|title='Durga Vahini' activists held|date=2004-05-15|access-date=2008-06-29|newspaper=[[The Hindu]]}}</ref>

In July 2017, Durga Vahini organized a training camp for self-defence in Jammu & Kashmir, girls from 17 border towns of the state participated in the camp.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.indiatimes.com/news/india/j-k-girls-turn-up-in-huge-numbers-at-durga-vahini-training-camp-for-self-defence-exercise-325387.html|title=J&K Girls Turn up in Huge Numbers at 'Durga Vahini' Training Camp for Self-Defence Exercise|date=7 July 2017}}</ref>

==See also==
* [[The World Before Her]], a documentary partly chronicling the training at a Durga Vahini camp
* [[Rashtra Sevika Samiti]]

==References==
{{reflist|2}}

==External links==
* [http://vhp.org/vhp-glance/youth/durga-vahini Durga Vahini], Vishva Hindu Parishad website

{{Sangh Parivar}}

[[Category:Sangh Parivar]]
[[Category:Religiously motivated violence in India]]
[[Category:Women's organisations based in India]]
[[Category:Hindu organizations]]
[[Category:Vishva Hindu Parishad]]
[[Category:Military wings of political parties]]

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Durga Vahini