The Hindu Yuva Vahini was a

Hindutva Hindutva (; ) is a Far-right politics, far-right political ideology encompassing the cultural justification of Hindu nationalism and the belief in establishing Hindu hegemony within India. The political ideology was formulated by Vinayak Da ...

organisation. The group was founded in April 2002, on the day of

Rama Navami Rama Navami () is a Hindu festival that celebrates the birth of Rama, one of the most popularly revered deities in Hinduism, also known as the seventh avatar of Vishnu. He is often held as an emblem within Hinduism for being an ideal king and h ...

Yogi Adityanath Yogi Adityanath (born Ajay Mohan Singh Bisht; 5 June 1972) is an Indian Hindu monk and politician. He is currently serving as the chief minister of Uttar Pradesh since 19 March 2017, became the first to hold the office for two consecutive ter ...

. The organisation is headquartered in

Gorakhpur Gorakhpur is a city in the List of state and union territory capitals in India, Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, along the banks of the West Rapti River, Rapti river in the Purvanchal , Purvanchal region. It is situated 272 kilometres east of ...

. Hindu Yuva Vahini (HYV) describes itself as “A fierce cultural and social organisation dedicated to Hindutva and nationalism.” Its stated objectives are: “the integration of and mutual good faith within the massive Hindu society, through the complete abolishment of the differentiation between touchable-

untouchable Untouchable or Untouchables may refer to: People * Untouchability, the practice of socially ostracizing a minority group of very low social status * Untouchables, word for the Dalits or Scheduled Castes of India * Untouchables (law enforcement), ...

and high-low, promote the harmonious development of society.” However cow protection, fighting against ''

love jihad Love jihad (or Romeo jihad) is an Islamophobic conspiracy theory promoted by right-wing Hindutva activists. The conspiracy theory purports that Muslim men target Hindu women for conversion to Islam by means such as seduction, feigning love ...

'' and performing ''

ghar wapsi ''Ghar Wapsi'' (Hindi, ) is the programme of religious conversion to Hinduism (and, to a lesser extent, Sikhism) from Islam, Christianity, and other religions in India conducted by Indian Hindu nationalist organisations such as Vishva Hindu Pa ...

'' were said, per media reports, to have been top priority on the Hindu Yuva Vahini's agenda. The organisation was disbanded on 3 August 2022.

Charges and accusations

The organisation has been involved in

communal violence Communal violence is a form of violence that is perpetrated across ethnic or communal lines, where the violent parties feel solidarity for their respective groups and victims are chosen based upon group membership. The term includes conflicts, ri ...

. The Hindu Yuva Vahini has been charged by the police in the

Mau Mau may refer to: Places Brazil * Maú River, an alternate name for the Ireng River Kenya * Mau Escarpment * Mau Forest India * Mau, Bhind, a town in Madhya Pradesh * Mau, Mawal, Pune district, Marahrashtra * Mau, Punjab, a village ...

riots of October 2005, where they organized the Hindu forces in opposition to a politician

Mukhtar Ansari Mukhtar Ansari (30 June 1963 – 28 March 2024) was an Indian gangster, convicted murderer, and politician, based in Uttar Pradesh. He was elected as a Member of the Legislative Assembly from the Mau constituency five times, including twice ...

, the alleged murderer of

Bharatiya Janata Party The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP; , ) is a political party in India and one of the two major List of political parties in India, Indian political parties alongside the Indian National Congress. BJP emerged out from Syama Prasad Mukherjee's ...

(BJP) state legislature member

Krishnanand Rai Krishnanand Rai (11 December 1956 – 29 November 2005) was an Indian politician from Uttar Pradesh. He served as a MLA from 2002 to 2005 representing Mohammadabad Assembly located at Ghazipur district. His first stint at politics was in yea ...

(later acquitted of the murder in 2019). Charges of inciting riots, murder, and arson were brought against Hindu Yuva Vahini leaders, along with Ansari and some others in the opposite camp. Eventually, a curfew was imposed on Mau for nearly a month. In January 2007, they were accused of burning mosques, homes, buses and trains in Gorakhpur when claims of the Gorakhpur temple being attacked emerged. This led to the arrest of Yogi Adityanath and 130 other members. After these arrests, the members were suspected of setting ablaze two coaches of the

Mumbai Mumbai ( ; ), also known as Bombay ( ; its official name until 1995), is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra. Mumbai is the financial capital and the most populous city proper of India with an estimated population of 12 ...

bound Mumbai-Gorakhpur Godan Express. The organization was charged with burning an entire Muslim family to death in Vatoli,

Adilabad Adilabad, also known as Edlawada and Eddulapuram, is a city which serves as the headquarters of Adilabad district, in the Indian state of Telangana. Telugu, Urdu, Marathi, Lambadi and Gondi are the most spoken languages of Adilabad. Adilabad ...

Telangana Telangana is a States and union territories of India, state in India situated in the Southern India, south-central part of the Indian subcontinent on the high Deccan Plateau. It is the List of states and union territories of India by area, ele ...

(then Andhra Pradesh) in 2008. However,

Adilabad District Adilabad district is a district in the northern area of Telangana, India. It is known as the gateway district to South India. The district's headquarters is the town of Adilabad. Adilabad district is bounded by Asifabad district to the east, ...

Sessions Court judge Aruna Sarika quashed the case against all the nine accused arrested in this connection, all members of this organization, due to lack of proper technical and scientific evidence produced by the Indian investigation agency CB CID.

References

External links

What is Yogi Adityanath’s Hindu Yuva Vahini?
''Indian Express''; May 17, 2017.
Hindu Yuva Vahini Ready to Hit National Highway
''Economic Times''; March 20, 2017.

''rediff.com''; April 18, 2017.

Official Facebook Page

Official Twitter Account Hindutva Gorakhpur Far-right politics in India Hindu organizations Yogi Adityanath 2002 establishments in Uttar Pradesh Religious organizations established in 2002 2022 disestablishments in India Paramilitary organisations based in India Militant Hindu groups Anti-Muslim violence in India

Charges and accusations

References

Further reading

External links