15,000-strong ‘dharma sena’ in Uttar Pradesh readies for war with Islamic State
Sandeep Rai & Uday Singh Rana | TNN | Jan 20, 2016, 02.34 AM IST
Members of the Hindu Swabhiman at a training camp in UP. (TOI photo by Munish Kumar)Members of the Hindu Swabhiman at a training camp in UP. (TOI photo by Munish Kumar)
DASNA/RORI/MEERUT: From the outskirts of India's capital to the Uttarakhand border, an outfit known as Hindu Swabhiman is raising and training what it calls a "dharma sena" to wage war against the so-called Islamic State (ISIS), which it believes will occupy western UP by 2020. Its leaders claim there are already 15,000 "soldiers" who are ready to die to safeguard their faith.
A TOI team, over the course of a week, visited four such camps spread around the communally sensitive belt of western UP and found that the outfit has even enlisted child soldiers, some of them as young as eight years old. All were being taught to use swords and firearms. The leaders of the outfit, headquartered at a temple at Dasna in Ghaziabad district, claim their ranks are swelling by the week. Of the 50 known training camps, some are clandestine and others, like those at Bamheta and Rori, are openly teaching men and women, boys and girls, to be ready "for when the enemy strikes".
There are three known training camps in Meerut city and five in Muzaffarnagar district alone.
One of the Hindu Swabhiman's leaders, Chetna Sharma, who is also a member of the VHP's Durga Vahini, told TOI on Monday: "Our motto is simple — catch them young. We have over 50 training centres all over western UP. Our students are from ages eight to 30. We don't give guns and swords to children straight away. For the first six months, we train them mentally. We teach them verses from the Gita. Hindus must not be afraid of death because we are reborn. The children here are fearless." Seema Kumari (name changed), 8, said, "I am learning to fight because our mothers and elder sisters are threatened. I have to protect them as well as myself."
A nine-year-old boy echoed her sentiments.
'Forced to take up arms as government's failed'
Militant attacks on India provide ideologues of the Hindu Swabhiman an opportunity to indoctrinate young minds. Parminder Arya, an ex-serviceman who trains children at one of the Hindu Swabhiman camps in Rori village near Modinagar, said, "Our training is simple. We apprise youngsters about terrorist activities taking place in the country."
[. . .]
FULL TEXT HERE: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/15000-strong-dharma-sena-in-Uttar-Pradesh-readies-for-war-with-Islamic-State/articleshow/50646587.cms