MEERUT: The Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) and its sister organization, Bajrang Dal, will now go from door to door and encourage members of the majority community to call its six-year-old ‘Hindu helpline’ if members of a “particular community” were forcing them to flee their homes. Balraj Doongar, the state convener of Bajrang Dal, said this was taken after “Kairana-like incidents had become the norm”.
When asked what action the VHP or Bajrang Dal would take, Doongar said that once the complaint reached their call centre in Pune, the local unit would be alerted. Activists on the ground would then visit the family and assure them of “all possible help under the law and give them strength by standing with them”.
“The Hindu helpline was started in 2010 as a means to bind the Hindu community into a family. The aim was to provide any kind of help to Hindus who are stranded somewhere. Mostly, it is used in cases of medical emergencies when someone needs some blood. A call is made to the call centre in Pune and then it is diverted to local activists. In one case, a VHP worker from Bengaluru was in Haridwar when all his belongings got stolen. He made a call to the helpline and a local VHP worker reached him within minutes and lent him Rs 2,000 for the journey home. We want it to be used whenever any Hindu is facing some kind of challenge that can be solved by coming together,” Doongar told TOI.
“In November, we started a recruitment drive in western UP, which is still going on. We have already recruited 8 lakh new members and aim to cross the 10 lakh mark. The goal is to tackle some of the gravest challenges that Hindus are faced with today. That is why we need to consolidate Hindus to fight against this menace. We have to respond to anti-national forces in their own language. That is why the VHP needs to increase its own strength. In western UP, one of the biggest challenges is that Hindus are being forced to flee their homes due to pressure from a particular community. The incidents of Kairana were repeated elsewhere in western UP as well. We want people to call us on the helpline and then we will go visit them. We will provide them with all possible help without breaking any laws. However, we are also ready to defend our faith,” Doongar added.
