Bajrang Dal

(“Hanuman’s Host”) The Bajrang Dal
is a modern Hindu organization that
has strong connections with the Hindu
nationalist Vishva Hindu Parishad
(VHP), although both are nominally
independent. The Bajrang Dal is
sometimes characterized as the VHP’s
“youth wing,” and its primary function
is to aid the VHP in carrying out its religious, political, and social campaigns,
particularly by supplying members to
build a crowd. The god Hanuman is
best noted for his prodigious strength,
and it is this quality that the Bajrang
Dal seems to have emphasized in
choosing him as their symbol.
Membership is open to young men
from all social strata, but the organization reportedly draws much of its followers from lower-caste groups.
Although local chapters of the Bajrang
Dal often perform social services and
philanthropic activities (as one might
find with any organized group), as a
whole the organization is widely seen
as an instrument of the VHP, to be used
when the situation calls for producing
a crowd, intimidation, or violence.