Bajrang Dal's disruptive footprint in Karnataka

A Congress spokesperson has justified the party's manifesto promise to ban Bajrang Dal, asking if it is wrong to act against those spreading hate

The Bajrang Dal has come to the forefront ahead of the Karnataka Assembly elections, slated to take place on May 10, with the Congress manifesto seeking to 'impose a ban' on such organisations that violate the law, equating it with the already outlawed Islamic Popular Front of India (PFI).

While the move has attracted backlash from the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP), the Congress spokesperson addressing reporters in Mangaluru asked whether it was wrong to seek a ban on organisations that threaten the sense of brotherhood in society.

Read | Congress expects no fallout over promise to ban Bajrang Dal in Karnataka election manifesto

Against this backdrop, here is a look at some of the controversies surrounding the Bajrang Dal in the poll-bound state.

2008 church attack

Soon after the BJP came to power in the state, there was a series of attacks on churches in parts of Mangalore and Udupi in the coastal regions and in Chikamaglur in the Malnad area.

While the B S Yediyurappa government set up a commission to investigate the attacks, Bajrang Dal claimed responsibility for the same saying that forced conversions had prompted the attacks.

The Karnataka Bajrang Dal convenor was also arrested over the matter.

More attacks against Christians

2013: Bajrang Dal activists barged into a prayer house in Udupi and assaulted those gathered there, on suspicion that conversion activities were taking place. Seven were injured in the incident and 19 activists of the Hindu outfit were arrested.

2021: Bajrang Dal activists stormed another Christian prayer hall in Belur city, alleging forced religious conversions were being carried out there.

The Hindu outfit has remained mostly unapologetic about their infractions with Manjunath, the Bajrang Dal Convenor in Hassan telling NDTV after the 2021 attack, "Yes, we have an issue with those converting to Christianity. Once born a Hindu, you die as a Hindu."

Attacks against Muslims

2021: A group of Bajrang Dal activists stopped a bus where a Muslim man was travelling with a female friend of another religion. They attacked and stabbed the man and when the woman went to his aid, she was hurt as well.

Both Bajrang Dal and VHP members are convinced of 'love jihad' is an existing and persistent threat - where Hindu women fall in love with Muslim men and convert to Islam. In 2022, the outfits even started a Love Jihad helpline with the VHP publicity head explaining "Many Hindu girls have been converted to Islam, killed and used to smuggle drugs in the name of love, we have seen all this in coastal Karnataka since many years."

2022: In Gadag, a Muslim man and his friend were stabbed by a group of people allegedly including Bajrang Dal members. The incident came hours after a 'hate speech' by the Hindu outfit and against the backdrop of months of communal unrest among Hindus and Muslims living in that area.

A few months after the Gadag incident, a Muslim man was beaten up by Bajrang Dal members in Shivamogga for not having non-halal meat in his store. The outfit has encouraged anti-halal meat drives saying that halal meat sellers should stop their sales since they operate in a 'Hindu majority' area.

Moral policing

In 2023, Bajrang Dal protested a ladies' night at a Shivamogga hotel ultimately forcing the women to abandon the party. The Bajrang Dal district convenor also admitted to asking the hotel to not organize such activities.

In Ujire town of Dakshin Kannada district, a Muslim man was beaten by Bajrang Dal activists for speaking to his Hindu friend.

Previous calls for bans

The Congress promise of a ban on the Bajrang Dal is not the first time the group has been in the crosshairs. In 2013, Lok Janshakti Party leader Ram Vilas Paswan demanded a ban on both Bajrang Dal and VHP since both organisations were involved in many incidents of violence in the past.

At the time, he also accused the Congress-led UPA government of having a soft spot for the outfits.

After the Malegaon blast, there was a heated exchange between the Left and the BJP in the Parliament, where the former maintained the alleged involvement of Hindu groups and sought the ban of outfits like Bajrang Dal for the same.