This article exists as part of the online archive for HuffPost India, which closed in 2020. Some features are no longer enabled. If you have questions or concerns about this article, please contact indiasupport@huffpost.com.

Hindu Sena Chief Justifies Ink Attack On J-K MLA, Says Their Goal Is 'Hindu Rashtra'

Hindu Sena Chief Justifies Ink Attack On J-K MLA, Says Their Goal Is 'Hindu Rashtra'
NEW DELHI, INDIA - OCTOBER 19: Alleged attacker who threw ink on Jammu & Kashmir MLA Engineer Rashid after he held a press meet to criticise a fire-bomb attack in Udhampur in which a youth from Kashmir died on October 19, 2015 in New Delhi, India. The Hindu Sena, a lesser known group, claimed responsibility for the attack. Rashid was recently beaten up by BJP MLAs inside the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly for allegedly hosting a beef party. (Photo by Arun Sharma/Hindustan Times via Getty Images)
Hindustan Times via Getty Images
NEW DELHI, INDIA - OCTOBER 19: Alleged attacker who threw ink on Jammu & Kashmir MLA Engineer Rashid after he held a press meet to criticise a fire-bomb attack in Udhampur in which a youth from Kashmir died on October 19, 2015 in New Delhi, India. The Hindu Sena, a lesser known group, claimed responsibility for the attack. Rashid was recently beaten up by BJP MLAs inside the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly for allegedly hosting a beef party. (Photo by Arun Sharma/Hindustan Times via Getty Images)

NEW DELHI -- Justifying the act of splattering ink on Jammu and Kashmir MLA Engineer Rashid, the founder of the Hindu Sena, Vishnu Gupta, said his organisation works on the agenda of establishing a 'Hindu Rashtra', and anyone who opposes it, would not be spared.

"The Hindu Sena, founded in 2011, works on the agenda of the establishment of a Hindu Rashtra in the nation, the construction of the Ram Mandir and the abolishment of Article 370, which gives special status to Jammu and Kashmir etc," Vishnu Gupta told ANI.

Having its headquarters in New Delhi, the organisation claims to have numerous units in at least seven states, including Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Odisha, Assam, Manipur and New Delhi.

"Around 50,000 people are online connected to the organisation and we have around 10,000 workers in the field," he added.

Vishnu Gupta, who started as a Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) worker, said he had also worked for the Bhagat Singh Kranti Sena (BSKS), but left it in 2012.

"I had protested against writer-activist Arundhati Roy after she had expressed her views on Kashmir in her address at the Indian Habitat Centre in 2011. However, the BJP had not supported us and that's when I left BSKS. I had also worked with the Bharatiya Vidyarthi Sena, which is the student wing of Shiv Sena. But in 2010, I had resigned from it, because I was against their ideology of attacking North Indians in Maharashtra," he added.

Gupta said the Hindu Sena, founded in 2011, was registered this year, and has the registration number DL-10August2015/1720.

On 8 January 2014, the Hindu Sena along with the Sri Ram Sena and the Bajrang Dal attacked the Aam Aadmi Party's (AAP) Kaushambi office after warning Arvind Kejriwal to expel senior AAP leader Prashant Bhushan over latter's controversial remarks on the contentious Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) in the Kashmir Valley. Bhushan had called for a referendum as a likely medium to gauge whether AFSPA was indeed needed in valley.

The organisation had also held a protest outside The Indian Express office on January 6, 2014, against what they called its "anti-national" coverage of the Pakistan boat incident.

"The reportage of January 3 edition of The Indian Express says the occupants of the Pakistani vessel were not terrorists. This is like speaking the language of Pakistan," said Gupta.

Contact HuffPost India

Close
This article exists as part of the online archive for HuffPost India, which closed in 2020. Some features are no longer enabled. If you have questions or concerns about this article, please contact indiasupport@huffpost.com.