Kill them like dogs: Sanatan Sanstha newsletter seeks brutal treatment for 'anti-nationals'

A group of Hindu ultra-right organisations have jumped right back into the headlines thanks to yet another controversial statement, this time against ‘anti-national elements’. The September edition of the Sanatan Sanstha ’s newsletter Sanatan Prabhat — which doubles as the mouthpiece for the Sanstha’s sister concern, the Hindu Jagruti Samiti (HJS) — carries a press release from the HJS that calls for action against anti-national elements. In a report, The Indian Express quotes the release as stating that ‘(as) per Samratha Ramdas Swami’s teaching, anti-nationals are like dogs, they must be killed’. [caption id=“attachment_2449414” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] A representational image from the Sanatan Sanstha’s website[/caption] The implications of this statement are worrying for a few reasons. First, the release equates those ‘who criticised the judiciary (for recommending Yakub Memon’s hanging) and those who worked hard to get his capital punishment revoked’ as ‘anti-nationals’. Second, considering slain scholar MM Kalburgi was also branded ‘anti-national’ during agitations — by BJP protestors — in Bangalore in June 2014, the label is one that is thrown around quite liberally. The fact that Kalburgi was later murdered isn’t exactly comforting. The release goes on to lament that “Bharat is the only country in the world where traitors get so much social, political, constitutional and religious support” and proposes that “if terrorism is to be eliminated from our soil, the supporters of terrorists should also feel very afraid”. But if killing is a bit too extreme for you, and a simple punch would probably suffice, the September issue of the newsletter has a piece for you. A piece titled ‘ Only devout Hindus will protect the interests of Hindus and therefore, support them only!’ starts out by criticising the BJP for a ‘breach of trust’ in Goa and across the country. It goes on to exhort its readers to instead stand by the HJS and Sanstha that ‘are serving the cause of Dharma sincerely and selflessly’, before inviting them to create ‘an ‘Iron-Fist’ of Hindu unity, and deliver such a punch to those who oppose the interests of Hindus’. But it isn’t all doom and gloom. This issue of the Sanatan Prabhat also contains a piece that proclaims that Sanstha founder Dr Jayant Balaji Athavale is the ‘ personification of God’. Why, you may well ask. It’s because auspicious signs are appearing on his body, apparently. A handy pictorial guide draws attention to the image of a lotus appearing on his forehead, a trident appearing on his throat, and a swastika also appearing on his throat. The expository text states that the “appearance of Divine changes is the effect of the developments in the subtle dimension on His body. Therefore, it is observed that those who have the ability to understand the subtle dimension (meaning, beyond the comprehension of the mind and intellect) can see them more clearly”.