Mumbai: As political organisations seek to engage younger voters, more than 1,500 young people, mostly from Gen Z, attended a ‘Grand Youth Conference’ at the Shanmukhananda Chandrashekharendra Saraswati Auditorium in Sion on Sunday.
Singhal Centenary Event
The conference was organised by the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP), Bajrang Dal and Durga Vahini as part of a nationwide programme marking the birth centenary of Ashok Singhal, a prominent VHP leader associated with the Ram Janmabhoomi movement.
Aditya Singh |
Speakers highlighted Singhal’s role in the movement and his influence on the ideological growth of the Hindu right. The audience was also told about his early life as an engineer and trained musician, and his association with the VHP, where he served as president for more than two decades.
RSS Leader Addresses Youth
Arun Kumar, joint general secretary of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), said Singhal had predicted that once at least 30% of the population voted as Hindus, governments would stop what he described as “minority appeasement”.
Cultural programme |
“That has happened and this is Singhal’s achievement. He did this in 25 to 30 years,” Kumar said.
Kumar also spoke of what he described as centuries of religious persecution of Hindus, and claimed that the Kumbh Mela had been restricted for 400 years.
Bhavini, Tanya, Suhani (L to R) |
Unity Message To Youth
Mahamandaleshwar Swami Pranavanand Saraswati, the main guest at the function, urged young people to base their lives on what he described as the principles of unity, honour and prosperity.
“Live for the welfare of yourself and your family but be conscious of the elements that work as termites in your society,” he said, cautioning against messaging that, according to him, sought to divide Hindus along caste and tribal lines.
Ayush Singh |
He also said colonial influence had left behind “outposts” that continued to challenge Indian civilisation.
Hindutva Undercurrent Claimed
Vivek Kulkarni, national co-coordinator of the Bajrang Dal, said the Bharatiya Janata Party’s 2014 Lok Sabha election victory was widely attributed to the promise of economic development, but argued that there was also a Hindutva undercurrent.
“Hindus became a vote bank that no party has talked about. Singhal’s vision is at work,” Kulkarni said.
Cultural Performances Featured
The programme, themed ‘Youth Power, Hindu Culture, Nation Building’, also featured a dance recital by Kalpangan Sanskrutik Kendra on the Dashavatara, the ten incarnations of Lord Vishnu, followed by a presentation of the Hanuman Chalisa.
The conference was among several programmes being organised across the country to mark Singhal’s birth centenary. Singhal, who was closely associated with the Ram Janmabhoomi movement, died in 2015.
The young attendees, however, did not appear to share a uniform view of the proceedings.
Aditya Singh, a law student, said he had attended after learning about the programme on social media.
“It was interesting to hear about Singhal’s life. It is important for the youth to be heard,” he said.
Ayush Singh, a commerce student, said he found the information about Singhal interesting but felt that the issues raised by the Cockroach Janata Party (CJP) were not accompanied by solutions.
Tanya Varma, a law student, said she was disappointed by some of the lengthy speeches.
“They spoke about temples, but did not say anything about educational institutions,” she said.
Bhavini Kushwaha, an information technology student, said she did not disagree with Gen Z protesters.
“They are asking questions. Though I do not agree with everything they say, the questions need to be asked,” she said.
Suhani Kushwaha, a mass media student, said she found some of the speakers too conservative and wished there had been more cultural programmes.
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