Bajrang Dal Patrols Near Garba Venues, Asks Organisers to Bar Entry of 'Non-Hindus'

Ahmedabad: The Bajrang Dal has asked garba organisers in Gujarat to stop the entry of "non-Hindus" at their venues, claiming that the nine-day-long Navratri festival has become a platform to lure Hindu women.

The right-wing group has also formed teams for continuous patrolling outside the garba venues and put up posters alerting people about 'love jihad'. In Ahmedabad, such posters have been put up near all major garba event venues, specially those near Muslim-dominated areas, Bajrang Dal's Ahmedabad zone coordinator Jwalit Mehta said on Monday.

"Through these posters, we are alerting the masses about a conspiracy wherein Hindu girls and women are targeted by non-Hindus during Navratri. Every year, over three lakh Hindu girls/women fall victim to this love jihad," he claimed.

The group has also urged parents to remain alert and save their daughters, he said. "We have already asked garba organisers to stop the entry of non-Hindus in the garba venue," Mehta said. The group has also formed teams to keep a check at major venues in the city.

"If we catch a 'vidharmi' (schismatic) with any girl/woman, we will first inform her parents and then extract all details of that non-Hindu person to find out if he had any hidden motive," said Mehta.

The group has also urged local police and administrations of various districts to maintain "sanctity" of the Hindu religion and save girls from 'love jihad'. "Navratri is an important festival of Hindus. It must not become a platform for love jihad. Non-Hindus, who have nothing to do with this Hindu festival, take advantage of it to lure our girls/women," Bajrang Dal's north Gujarat coordinator M K Patel said.

The outfit's leaders in different districts have submitted memorandum to police and authorities to ensure the safety of Hindu girls, he said. Similarly, the AntarRashtriya Hindu Parishad (AHP), floated by former VHP chief Pravin Togadia, is also working to stop non-Hindus from entering garba venues in Gujarat.

"We have asked the garba organisers to make sure no one plays with the sanctity of this Hindu festival. If a non-Hindu wants to play garba, he must first embrace Hinduism, drink gaumutra (cow urine) and then do garba," AHP general secretary Ranchhod Bharwad said.

"We will not tolerate if you come just for indulging in love jihad," he said. To discourage non-Hindus from coming to garba events, the AHP has formed patrolling teams which would also sprinkle gaumutra on participants outside some venues, another AHP leader Jitendra Prajapati said. The nine-day-long Navratri festival began on Sunday.