GUWAHATI: Close to 400 persons between the age group of 18 to 30 received training on small arms handling as a part of a “training camp” organised by the Rashtriya Bajrang Dal (RBD), a Hindu right-wing organisation, in Mangaldoi, Daranag district.
The four day training camp that began on July 27, was organised by the Hindu group to “prepare the youth for any potential civil-war or protect themselves from jihadis”. Apart from arms handling, the camp that was held at a school, also trained participants on martial arts, aspects of survival skills, ideologies, and hand-to-hand combat, among others.
Reports in local media add that the camp was carried out under the supervision of an instructor team including a retired, Assam-based, Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) personnel and former government officials.
This is not the first time when the RBD has organised such training camps in the state. Following a pan-Indian module, the group has been hosting such events across the state for a while. In August last year, the Hindu right-wingers held a similar camp at an undisclosed location in Dhubri, around 250km west of Guwahati. Since its inception in 2018 in Assam, the controversial group is said to have organised six such camps in five places across the state.
In the past, such events have stirred controversies leading to war of words between the government and the opposition, not just in Assam but across the country. Last year in May, FIRs were registered against two Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders and others for organising such a training camp in Karnataka. The Karnataka police had said that RBD and other Hindu organisations have been organising such camps every year but never thought of the need to seek permission.
However, till the time of filing this report, the police haven’t issued any statement and the opposition too is mum on the matter.
