With the Navratri festival season in full swing, the pro-Hindutva group Bajrang Dal announced on Thursday that it will “guard” garba events to prevent “non believers” from entering and committing “love jihad.” According to The Indian Express, the hardline right-wing group will station volunteers outside garba venues in Gujarat.
Vinod Bansal, the national spokesperson ,with which the Bajrang Dal is associated, said, “The non-believers (vidharmis) have no reason to attend such events. Garba is not only a cultural event, but also religious. If a non-believer attends it, it makes it clear about their intentions as to why they want to attend the event.”
Bansal said that at the events earlier there were incidents of “physical assault, rape, love jihad and kidnapping”.