After vowing to ban Bajrang Dal, the Hindu organisation in Karnataka, the Congress party has shifted its stand in Madhya Pradesh as its senior leader Digvijay Singh said that there are no plans to ban the group in Madhya Pradesh. On Wednesday, August 16, the Congress MP said that there are a “few good people in Bajrang Dal” adding that if voted to power in the coming state assembly elections, the group will not be banned.
During a media interaction at Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) office in Bhopal, Singh said, “We will not ban Bajrang Dal if we win elections in Madhya Pradesh as there can be some good people in Bajrang Dal as well, but we will not spare anyone involved in riots or violence.”
#WATCH | Bhopal | Congress leader Digvijay Singh says "…We will not ban Bajgranj Dal (if we win polls in Madhya Pradesh) as there can be some good people in Bajrang Dal as well, but we will not spare anyone involved in riots or violence." pic.twitter.com/ggibgQUAW6
— ANI (@ANI) August 16, 2023
Interestingly, Digvijay Singh at times compared Bajrang Dal, a Hindu organisation working relentlessly to defend Hindu rights with the banned Islamist terror outfit Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI) which has been notorious for its involvement in anti-national activities and getting support from outfits like ISIS. One can understand the sudden shift from hating Bajrang Dal, desperately advocating for a ban on it to seeing “few good people” is certainly not due to a sense of realisation of the good work done by the group but rather a political compulsion.
In May this year, Digvijay Singh boasted in a tweet that he had sent a proposal to the NDA government at the Centre in 2000 to ban SIMI and Bajrang Dal, however, the government rejected it.
मैंने तो सन् २००० में SIMI व बजरंग दल दोनों को प्रतिबंधित करने के लिए प्रस्ताव केंद्र सरकार को भेजा था। लेकिन तत्कालीन केंद्र में भाजपा सरकार ने स्वीकार नहीं किया।
— digvijaya singh (@digvijaya_28) May 2, 2023
-३ @PMOIndia @AmitShah @INCIndia
Taking to X today, the Congress leader tried to do damage control as seeing “few good people” in Bajrang Dal will surely enrage the party’s Muslim voters. Singh, however, once again equated Bajrang Dal with the banned Islamist outfit SIMI terming the two as the two faces of the same coin. He claimed that both groups use religion as a political weapon which is apparently true but only in the case of SIMI.
“I as CM MP had recommended banning of Bajrang Dal and SIMI to the then NDA Government headed by BJP. They banned SIMI but not BD. Both Hindu and Muslim Religious Fundamentalists are two faces of the same coin. Congress has always fought these forces who use Religion as a Political Weapon which is illegal and shall continue to do so,” Singh tweeted.
I as CM MP had recommended banning of Bajrang Dal and SIMI to the then NDA Government headed by BJP. They banned SIMI but not BD. Both Hindu and Muslim Religious Fundamentalists are two faces of the same coin. Congress has always fought these forces who use Religion as a… https://t.co/HE1M1z4XnC
— digvijaya singh (@digvijaya_28) August 17, 2023
During the media interaction on Wednesday, Digvijay talked about Hindutva and asserted that he was, is and will always be a Hindu, moreover, a better Hindu than the BJP leaders.
“I was a Hindu, I am a Hindu and will remain a Hindu. I follow the Hindu religion and I am a follower of Sanatan Dharma. I am a better Hindu than that of all the BJP leaders,” Singh said.
Digvijay Singh’s recent comments remind one of freedom fighter Veer Savarkar’s 1943 prophecy that one day Congress leaders will start wearing ‘janeu’ on top of their coats.
While Congress leader Kamalnath said that with 82 percent population of the country being Hindu, the country is already a Hindu Rashtra, Digvijay Singh asserted that anyone who has taken the oath of the constitution and talks about Hindu Rashtra should first resign from his post.
Kamalnath says Hindu rashtra is ok, Digvijay Singh says idea of Hindu rashtra is ridiculous.
— Mr Sinha (@MrSinha_) August 16, 2023
Never ever believe in Congress! They're trying to fool the people of MP. pic.twitter.com/5FQ5hFvt5f
Although Digvijay Singh, the former chief minister of Madhya Pradesh now claims to be a better Hindu than BJP leaders, he is infamous for his slanderous remarks against the Hindus.
In the year 2019, Digvijay Singh claimed that the Bajrang Dal and the BJP received funding from the Pakistani intelligence agency ISI. A case was registered against Singh back then over his statements. In September 2019, Singh stated that people dressed in Saffron attires were committing rapes inside the temple, adding that this is not Hindu dharma.
“Today, people are wearing saffron clothes and raping, rapes are happening inside temples, is this our religion? Those who have defamed our ‘Sanatan Dharma’, not even God will forgive them,” Digvijaya Singh said back then.
And who can forget that Digvijay Singh was one of the Congress leaders who dubbed the 26/11 Mumbai attacks an RSS conspiracy. He was a key promoter of the falsehood of ‘Hindu Terror’ peddled by the then-UPA government.
As Hindus have become increasingly aware and expressive of their religious and cultural identities, and have stopped accepting Hindumisia in the name of tolerance and communal harmony, Hindu-disdaining political parties are compelled to alter their stance, even if just to make political gains.
