Subash Chouhan was the national
President
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of the
Bajrang Dal
The Bajrang Dal () is a Hindu nationalist militant organisation that forms the youth wing of the Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP). It is a member of the right-wing Sangh Parivar. The ideology of the organisation is based on Hindutva. It was ...
(army of Hanuman), a
Hindutva
Hindutva () is the predominant form of Hindu nationalism in India. The term was formulated as a political ideology by Vinayak Damodar Savarkar in 1923. It is used by the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), the Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP), the ...
organization in India that is the youth wing of the
Vishwa Hindu Parishad
The Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP) () is an Indian right-wing Hindu organization based on Hindu nationalism. The VHP was founded in 1964 by M. S. Golwalkar and S. S. Apte in collaboration with Swami Chinmayananda. Its stated objective is "t ...
(VHP).
From 1995 to 2000 he was the
Orissa state president of
Hindu Jagran Manch
Hindu Jagran Manch also Called as H.J.M (translation: Forum for Hindu Awakening) is an Indian Hindu activist group affiliated to the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS). It focuses on activism against religious conversion and works for the reconve ...
.
From 2000 to 2003 he was Joint prachar pramukh of
Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh
The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh ( ; , , ) is an Indian right-wing, Hindu nationalist, paramilitary volunteer organisation. The RSS is the progenitor and leader of a large body of organisations called the Sangh Parivar (Hindi for "Sangh family ...
(RSS) Orissa.
[
In 2001 Subash Chouhan was also ]convenor
The chairperson, also chairman, chairwoman or chair, is the presiding officer of an organized group such as a board, committee, or deliberative assembly. The person holding the office, who is typically elected or appointed by members of the group ...
of the Hindu Jagran Sammukhya.
From 2003 to 2006 Subash Chouhan was Convener of Bajrang Dal in Orissa.
From 2006 to 2007 he was zonal Convener of Bajrang Dal.[
He was appointed co-convener of the Bajrang Dal at the national level in 2008.
In July 2010 he was appointed Bajrang Dal National convenor and worked till October 2012.
]
Hindu nationalism and morality
Graham Staines
Graham Stuart Staines (18 January 1941 – 23 January 1999) was an Australian Christian missionary, who along with his two sons, Philip (aged 10) and Timothy (aged 6), was burnt to death in India by members of a Hindu fundamentalist group named ...
was an Australian missionary who was burned to death in his car with his two young sons in January 1999.
Eyewitnesses said the people who committed the murder were shouting "Long live Bajrang Dal". However, in February 2003 India's Central Bureau of Investigation said none of the suspects belonged to the Bajrang Dal.
According to Subash Chouhan, "We were framed ... Now the truth has come to light".
When Bollywood film producer Sunil Agnihotri
Sunil Agnihotri is a Bollywood film and TV producer and director. He has been described as the "king of television costume dramas".
Work
Sunil Agnihotri started as an assistant director and did many films. His last as an assistant was with Lat ...
said he was ready to start work on his film ''The Murder of a Missionary'', Subash Chouhan said "We will not allow the producer to shoot ... Such films will encourage the conversion of poor tribals to Christianity".
Subash Chouhan said his organization planned to make a movie called ''Dara: The Hero'' about Dara Singh, the man who was convicted of the murder.
He said "For us Staines was nothing less than a villain". He said the film would depict the "good work done by Dara in preventing conversion and cow slaughter" in the tribal areas.
In July 2009 Subash Chouhan said two of the Bajrang Dal's main concerns were a complete ban on cow slaughtering and protecting poor people from conversion.
He said "Our aim is to reset the glory of Rama Raj and realize the dream of Mahatma Gandhi".
His organization was planning a major recruitment drive in the silver jubilee year, and was planning blood donation drives, forestry projects, anti-narcotics programs and programs to raise awareness of environmental problems and other social evils.
In January 2008 he condemned a political science textbook named ''Indian Polity'' which described the Bharatiya Janata Party
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP; ; ) is a political party in India, and one of the two major Indian political parties alongside the Indian National Congress. Since 2014, it has been the ruling political party in India under Narendra Mod ...
(BJP), Bajarang Dal, Shiv Sena and Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh
The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh ( ; , , ) is an Indian right-wing, Hindu nationalist, paramilitary volunteer organisation. The RSS is the progenitor and leader of a large body of organisations called the Sangh Parivar (Hindi for "Sangh family ...
(RSS) as "extensions of terrorist organisations". The publisher apologized for the mistake and said the book would be corrected.
In February 2010 Subash Chouhan said his group would not allow the movie '' My Name Is Khan'' to be screened in Orissa.
He said of the star "Shah Rukh
Shah Rukh or Shahrukh ( fa, شاهرخ, ''Šāhrokh'') (20 August 1377 – 13 March 1447) was the ruler of the Timurid Empire between 1405 and 1447.
He was the son of the Central Asian conqueror Timur (Tamerlane), who founded the Timurid dynas ...
has behaved like an agent of Pakistan by advocating the cause of Pakistani cricketers participating in the Indian Premier League".
In December 2011 the United Progressive Alliance
United Progressive Alliance (UPA) is a centre-left political alliance of predominantly left-leaning political parties in India. It was formed after the 2004 general election with support from left-leaning political parties when no single party ...
national government said they would allow job reservation for minorities.
In protest, Bajrang Dal activists held a motorcycle rally in Jharsuguda
Jharsuguda is a city and district headquarters of Jharsuguda district of Odisha, India. It is an industrial hub, consisting mainly of metallurgical industries. It is well connected to major cities of India through the rail network, and a rece ...
, Orissa.
Speaking at the rally, Subash Chouhan called the government action a violation of the constitution whose purpose was to woo voters from minority groups.
In February 2012, with Valentine's Day
Valentine's Day, also called Saint Valentine's Day or the Feast of Saint Valentine, is celebrated annually on February 14. It originated as a Christian feast day honoring one or two early Christian martyrs named Saint Valentine and, thr ...
approaching, he warned couples that "They cannot kiss or hug in public places. Our activists will beat them up".
He said "We are not against love, but we criticize vulgar exhibition of love at public places".
Conversion
In 2003, as Orissa state convenor for the Bajrang Dal, Subash Chouhan claimed that missionaries in the state were zealously converting Adivasi
The Adivasi refers to inhabitants of Indian subcontinent, generally tribal people. The term is a Sanskrit word coined in the 1930s by political activists to give the tribal people an indigenous identity by claiming an indigenous origin. The term ...
s (tribal people) to Christianity, while "Islam fanatics" were converting Dalit
Dalit (from sa, दलित, dalita meaning "broken/scattered"), also previously known as untouchable, is the lowest stratum of the castes in India. Dalits were excluded from the four-fold varna system of Hinduism and were seen as forming ...
s (formerly called "untouchables") to Islam.
He said that "reconversion" was working well with the Christians, but they were having less success with the Muslims since the mullahs "guard their children like chickens". He suggested that the Bajrang Dal might have to use force to "get the job done".[
In February 2005 two Protestant clergymen were killed in separate incidents in Orissa.
According to the ''Organizer'', the official weekly newspaper of the RSS, the recent violence was "a spontaneous reaction by local people against missioners adamant on conversion".
Subash Chouhan was quoted as saying "Christian organizations are on a warpath—accept their religion or face the music".
In February 2012 as National President of the Bajarang Dal he attended a ceremony at Sundergarh, Orissa organised by the VHP at which 3,127 people were converted to Hinduism.][
]
Communal violence
A June 2005 session of the Indian People's Tribunal investigating communal conflict in Orissa
Odisha (English: , ), formerly Orissa ( the official name until 2011), is an Indian state located in Eastern India. It is the 8th largest state by area, and the 11th largest by population. The state has the third largest population of S ...
was disrupted by Hindu nationalists who threatened to rape female members of the tribunal and parade them naked through the streets.
Subash Chouhan denied that threats of rape had been made by Bajrang Dal members.[
However ]Angana Chatterji
Angana P. Chatterji (born November 1966) is an Indian anthropologist, activist, and feminist historian, whose research is closely related to her advocacy work and focuses mainly on India. She co-founded the International People's Tribunal on H ...
, the co-convenor of the tribunal, reported in a letter to the National Human Rights Commission of India
The National Human Rights Commission of India (abbreviated as NHRC) is a statutory public body constituted on 12 October 1993 under the Protection of Human Rights Ordinance of 28 September 1993. It was given a statutory basis by the Protection ...
that Chouhan had said "if I continue, the Bajrang Dal and the Vishwa Hindu Parishad would strongly challenge and repress me". She noted that Chouhan's statements have been reported in the local press and on TV.
On 23 August 2008 Swami Lakshmanananda Saraswati and other VHP leaders were killed in the Kandhamal district
Kandhamal district is a district in the state of Odisha, India. The district headquarters of the district is Phulbani. Kandhamal is famous for its local turmeric renowned as 'Kandhamal Haldi' which has earned the Geographical indication (GI) tag ...
of Orissa.
The VHP and Bajrang Dal laid the blame on the Naveen Patnaik
Naveen Patnaik (born 16 October 1946) is an Indian politician serving as the current and 14th Chief Minister of Odisha. He is also the president of the Biju Janata Dal, a writer and has authored three books. He is the longest-serving chief min ...
government, which they said had ignored warnings and failed to provide adequate security.
However, some senior BJP
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP; ; ) is a political party in India, and one of the two major Indian political parties alongside the Indian National Congress. Since 2014, it has been the ruling political party in India under Narendra Mo ...
ministers in the government refused to join in the criticism, revealing a split between the BJP and the more extreme "saffron
Saffron () is a spice derived from the flower of ''Crocus sativus'', commonly known as the "saffron crocus". The vivid crimson stigma and styles, called threads, are collected and dried for use mainly as a seasoning and colouring agent in ...
" groups.
Subash Chouhan called for the ministers to resign.
He said the government's claim that Maoists could be behind the killings was laughable.
Later it was reported that the Maoist leader Sabyasachi Panda
Sabyasachi Panda is a Naxalite-Maoist leader from India. He was wanted by the state police of several states in India for his involvement in criminal activities. He came into international news in 2012, for his alleged engineering of the kidnap ...
had said the Maoists had killed Laxamananda Saraswati, who was trying to revive Brahminism, since they wanted to achieve a caste-free society. Panda said Christians were the main supporters of his group and had urged the killings.
He said Swami Lakshmanananda had alleged that Christians had been killing cows, which are sacred animals to Hindus, and had been forcibly converting Hindus to Christianity.
Christian leaders denied these charges. Subash Chouhan said he did not believe the Maoist leader's claim of responsibility for the killings.
The August killings of VHP leaders triggered a surge of anti-Christian mob violence in Kandhamal district.
Thousands of homes were burned and at least 36 people died.
Over 20,000 people, mostly Christians, were forced to take shelter in relief camps.
A night curfew was imposed and over 600 people were arrested.[
Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik said on TV that many of those arrested were from Bajrang Dal, which he described as a fundamentalist group.
Subash Chouhan denied that any Bajrang Dal had been involved, saying "Bajrang Dal activists are doing selfless service for the country".
There was further violence in September in which tribal people attacked police and the police fired back, killing four people.
Subash Chouhan said the attack was organized by minorities led by a Christian in order to stir up trouble between the police and the innocent tribals.
In October 2008 police prevented a group from entering the district that included Shyamji Gupta, all India joint general secretary of the VHP, Gauri Prasad Rath, Orissa state secretary of the VHP and Subash Chouhan.][
In October 2009 a number of US lawmakers wrote to Orissa chief minister ]Naveen Patnaik
Naveen Patnaik (born 16 October 1946) is an Indian politician serving as the current and 14th Chief Minister of Odisha. He is also the president of the Biju Janata Dal, a writer and has authored three books. He is the longest-serving chief min ...
voicing their concern about continued violence against Christians in the state.
The letter said "... we're concerned that if Hindu extremists can act with impunity toward religious minorities in India, these extremists and their ideologies will begin to affect international security as well".
Subash Chouhan reacted by asking: "How can anyone say that Christians are the victims of violence at a time when bombs and firearms are being seized from Christian rehabilitation camp?"
Subash Chouhan attacked the ''Prevention of Communal and Targeted Violence Bill 2011'', which he said would lead to even greater polarization and communal conflict.
He described the bill as having been planned and conceived at the bidding of foreign powers as part of an "international conspiracy to target the Hindu society, its leaders and organisations".
See also
*Bajrang Dal
The Bajrang Dal () is a Hindu nationalist militant organisation that forms the youth wing of the Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP). It is a member of the right-wing Sangh Parivar. The ideology of the organisation is based on Hindutva. It was ...
* Religious violence in Orissa
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Chouhan, Subash
1966 births
2020 deaths
People from Odisha
Bajrang Dal members
National Democratic Alliance candidates in the 2014 Indian general election
Bharatiya Janata Party politicians from Odisha
Deaths from the COVID-19 pandemic in India