Alternatives to Sangh Parivar

[G.Subramaniam]

in Mumbai last week. But a more silent mobilisation of Hindus in and around the city has been underway for quite some time now.





In the last couple of years, an estimated 2.5 lakh Hindus have attended Dharmajagruti Sabhas or meets for religious awakening organised by the Sanatan Sanstha and the Hindu Janjagruti Samiti (HJS) across Maharashtra and Karnataka. Over 80 such meets have been held since April 2007, besides dozens of small village-level meets, the latest in Nanded earlier this month.





Dr Durgesh Samant, the chief spokesperson of the HJS, says, “We had 20,000 people attending in Jalgaon and 11,000 in Nanded. And they come despite the fact that there are no free handouts or anything.”





When some of their members were arrested in connection with the blast at Thane’s Gadkari Rangayatan early last year, the Sanatan Sanstha and the HJS were quick to say they had no role to play in their plans.





At their Dharmajagruti Sabhas, speakers “create awareness on dharma”, says Samant. They also talk about “internal and external attacks” against Hindus, and of finding solutions to terrorism. “It is an apolitical movement,” says Samant, but Shiv Sena and BJP leaders are common invitees. Recurring themes at the Sabhas include respect for national symbols and protests against offensive depictions of gods and goddesses.





Closely associated, the Sanatan Sanstha and the HJS are both registered as charitable organisations in Goa. The Sanstha was founded in 1990 by a clinical hypnotherapist, Dr Jayant Balaji Athavale, who practised for over two decades and also set up the Indian Society of Clinical Hypnosis and Research. Dr Athavale now “rarely emerges from his writing and spiritual practice”, according to a spokesperson.





The Sanstha’s largest centre in Mumbai is the Sanatan Ashram in Panvel, on the outskirts of the city, where about 150 people reside for most part of the year—Hindus who gave up regular jobs to become saadhaks or seekers, some retirees and a few families. The resident saadhaks pursue a life of spirituality, says Abhay Vartak, the Sanatan Sanstha’s spokesperson. Incidentally, the Panvel ashram was home to Ramesh Gadkari and Santosh Angre—both later arrested for the Thane blast—for several months.





One of the arms of the HJS is the Dharmashakti Sena, which offers young Hindus training in self-defence.