Mission Hindu Rashtra: Inside Story of the Sudden Spike in Hindutva Sammelans
Through a surge in Hindu Sammelans, a massive Hindutva mobilisation is taking place across several states.
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In November 2025, self-styled godman Dhirendra Krishna Shastri, better known by his moniker “Baba Bageshwar,” took out a massive padyatra (foot march) all the way from Delhi to Vrindavan. Under the banner of Sanatan Ekta, the foot march—ostensibly organised for the purpose of uniting Hindus in the country to ensure the preservation of their religion and culture—saw explicit calls being made for a “Hindu Rashtra.”
This was further compounded by instances of political dogwhistling, hate speeches, and incitement to violence, as the orator walked with thousands of devotees, elected ministers, and other luminaries from the cricketing and entertainment worlds.
In January 2026, a senior functionary of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) declared that the organisation had decided to conduct one lakh Hindu Sammelan events across the country, to mark the centenary of the organisation.
These events—religious gatherings, sammelans, yatras—are not isolated spectacles. They form a growing ecosystem of Hindutva mobilisation in which spiritual leaders, far-right outfits, and political figures intersect under the religio-political authority of organisations like the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP), RSS, Bajrang Dal, and others to circulate divisive narratives, often taking recourse to explicit appeals for violent measures.
A report by the Centre for the Study of Organised Hate (CSOH) noted a staggering 1,318 instances of hate speech that targeted religious minorities in 2025—on average, nearly four such cases every day. This included unabated proliferation of conspiracy theories, dehumanising references, calls to arms, as well as calls to destroy places of religious worship.
In 2026, such events continue to surface with unsettling regularity, suggesting a sustained campaign of extremist mobilisation. The executive director of CSOH, Raqib Hameed Naik—who also operates Hindutva Watch, a portal that documents instances of hate speech and human rights abuses against minorities—asserted that hate in India is not organic, but manufactured. There are “special interest groups” in the country, he went on to say, which are working in cahoots with the Hindutva ecosystem, bulwarking their political goals with the authority of religious godmen.
What is especially troubling about the sudden spike in these events is that the rhetoric increasingly bypasses formal policy initiatives altogether, favouring a grassroots approach that directly urges Hindus to take matters into their own hands in the name of protecting their religion.
Mainstreaming Extremism
The narratives circulating at these events do not emerge in isolation, but are sustained by a broader network—assisted by the covert aid of political groups and the overt sanction of spiritual godmen. Naik noted that these religious sammelans are organised quite frequently, especially at regional levels. They mainly help in forging relations of the Sangh members with the local religious figures, thus gaining the support of the larger public through this network.
Human rights lawyer Dr. V. Suresh, who is the National General Secretary of the People’s Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL), sees this trend as the zenith of a decades-old hate movement, which he encapsulates as a “politics of deniability.” Commenting on the operational politics of the Hindutva ecosystem, he foregrounds the symbiotic relationship between the mainstream and the fringe. Notably, he drew attention to how organisations like the RSS and VHP have never openly offered explanations for or condemned the consequences of the hate-fuelled narratives they formulate, obfuscating their role in the normalisation of Hindutva vigilante justice.
These events routinely feature prominent faces from this ecosystem, ranging from gau raksha activists like Daksh Chaudhary, Akku Pandit and Abhishek Singh Thakur, to militant leaders like Yati Narsinghanand and Bhupender Chaudhary, to self-professed spiritual leaders like Dhirendra Krishna Shastri, and even elected ministers.
Poster of a ‘Virat Hindu Sammelan’ event, headlined by known faces from the right-wing ecosystem
One recent incident demonstrates how porous the boundary between fringe actors and mainstream politics has become.
On January 21, a Virat Hindu Sammelan was organised in the Rae Bareli district of Uttar Pradesh. Khushbu Pandey and Riddhima Sharma, both staunch Hindutva activists, came under fire for making controversial comments at the event. The latter asserted that the only way to ensure peace was through violence: “If they kill two of yours, kill a hundred people (from their community) in retaliation.” Meanwhile, Khushbu Pandey, who hails from Bihar, evoked the Bhagalpur massacre of 1989, and highlighted how 15 minutes of non-interference by the police had helped stage the violence, leaving more than 1000 people dead, most of them Muslims. She also makes a reference to “cauliflower farming,” evoking a history mired in communal bloodbath. This amounts to nothing short of an open call for the genocide of Muslims, one that has been legitimised by a sitting Cabinet Minister not long ago—demonstrating how such instances of communal mass mobilisation are reinforced by mainstream politics.
Across states, the same template has now been deployed by right wing outfits, resulting in what has turned into a decentralised mobilisation of Hindutva’s foot soldiers.
Another glaring example of this disturbing collusion is illustrated by the case of Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, who has been in headlines in the recent past for making a flurry of problematic remarks on Bengali Muslims, setting the platform for targeted harassment and violence toward Bengali-speaking Muslims across the country. The trope of the Bangladeshi “infiltrator” has also been used recently by the likes of Rajasthan Chief Minister Bhajan Lal Sharma, Home Minister Amit Shah, and even Prime Minister Narendra Modi. It is not easy to chart the flow of this rhetoric from mainstream political figures to fringe elements present at these events, who propagate the fear of ‘infiltrators’ routinely in their addresses to the gathered crowds. The narrative finally meets its incendiary culmination at the hands of Hindutva vigilante groups, who resort to the same narrative to intimidate, harass, and unleash brutal violence on Bengali-speaking migrants across the country.
Manufacturing the ‘Jagrit’ Hindu
Appeals to the Hindu community to “wake up”—from what can only be surmised as a state of “pseudo-secular” dormancy, is integral to these gatherings. Essentially, the figure of the “jagrit Hindu” is the archetypal Übermensch of New India; a superior, enlightened being who rejects passive obedience, and can justify violent measures in the name of religious/cultural preservation.
“Awakening” from the haze of liberal-secular tolerance invites a set of criteria which the jagrit Hindu subject must adhere to, bellowed ad infinitum from the podium by Hindutva activists, leaders, and other members of far-right organisations in recent months.
On January 22, a so-called Mahapratigya Yatra was organised in Chandigarh, seeing the likes of gau-rakshak activists Daksh Chaudhary, Akku Pandit, Doctor Prakash Singh, Abhishek Singh Thakur, and others taking pledges to end cow slaughter and make India a Hindu Rashtra, in front of packed audiences. The speeches contain dehumanising language to indicate Muslims, all the while giving vent to communal discourses and painting the Muslim subject as the villainous scapegoat. Cow vigilante Doctor Prakash Singh also made an appearance at the event, repeatedly referring to Muslims as “Jihadis.” A video uploaded by Akku Pandit on the same day shows a teeming crowd of people, wielding swords and axes, and flying the saffron flag. In another event at Bulandshahr, Akku Pandit can also be heard referring to Muslims as “Jihadis,” before threatening to “separate” them from Allah.
To be jagrit, in a sense, is to embody an attitude of unconditional hostility towards Muslims—painted in the collective imagination as pillagers and rapists—so as to ensure that Hindus don’t suffer civilisational erosion at the hands of the “invaders.”
A glimpse from a Virat Hindu Sammelan in Uttar Pradesh.
@vipuldubeymla/ig
On January 25, another Hindu Sammelan was organised in Kanpur. Militant ascetic Madhuram Sharan Shiva delivered an incendiary speech at this event: “We must live for the nation. We should not have to die for our dharm—we have to kill for it.”
Yet another Virat Hindu Sammelan took place at UP’s Baghpat, on January 30. Yati Narsinghanand described Islam as a “cancer on the earth”, before going on to assert that Hindus should form “ISIS-like” terror squads. He also claimed that neither the police nor the government is equipped to ensure the preservation of their religion. Such remarks clearly point to a manufactured demographic anxiety that Hindutva outfits actively amplify under the catchphrase: “Hindu khatrein me hai” (Hindus are in danger), to both mobilise and incite the masses to action. This anxiety over a diminishing Hindu population in India has been persistently regurgitated, juxtaposed with misleading conspiracy theories about an Islamic conquest of the country.
Dr. V. Suresh highlights how these groups strategically use the weight of past grievances to keep communities in a state of perennial animosity. Interventions by the jagrit Hindu are thereby framed as justifiable moral duty—not only commendable, but an urgent need of the times, backed by the incontrovertible authority of religious godmen and babas.
The frequency at which these events are being organised, purportedly to create a generation of jagrit Hindus ready to resort to radical and violent means, is alarming. Underneath the guise of Hindu spirituality, a mass mobilisation is quietly taking shape, bolstered by the rhetoric of exclusion, and the language of hatred.
An Abundance of Shaurya Yatras
In recent times, there has also been a proliferation of Shaurya Yatras, organised under the semblance of celebrating “valour.” Beside the usual host of keywords like “love jihad” and “gau raksha,” these events, organised by organisations like the Bajrang Dal, VHP and their ideological cousins, also take recourse to sensitive trigger points like the spectre of the Babri Masjid. Allusions to the destroyed mosque surface routinely in such events; for instance, a report by The Citizens of Justice and Peace (CJP) published in January 2025 counted a total of 21 such rallies in December 2024.
These yatras also called for similar violent action, framed either as ‘retribution’ for historical injustices, or as an indispensable course of action for the survival of Hindus in the country. For instance, in a Shaurya Yatra organised on December 7, in Haridwar, VHP leader Anuj Walia evoked the effort that had removed the “taint” on Ayodhya, and urged Hindus to unite and recreate such an event in Haridwar. He advocated for violent means in order to achieve this, declaring that Bajrang Dal will take the responsibility of protecting Hindus.
In another recent incident Bajrang Dal member Viru Chauhan, in a Shobha Yatra organised in UP’s Rampur, threatened “biryani shop owners” (stereotyping Muslim shop owners), declaring that he would throw away their utensils if he found them open during the yatra. This announcement was made amidst a sea of supporters, who cheered him on and applauded his open threat.
These incidents have only increased in the recent past, especially those resonating the clarion call for the “reclamation” of Kashi and Mathura.
After Ayodhya: ‘Kashi Mathura Baaki Hai’
Religious yatras in India, historically, have often served a political motive. One need only remember BJP veteran L.K. Advani’s nationwide call for a chariot procession in the early 1990s, to push the agenda for the construction of a Ram Janmabhoomi Temple at Ayodhya, claiming that the Babri Masjid had been built on the site of a destroyed temple. It infamously culminated in the destruction of the 16th-century mosque, and the loss of thousands of lives—mostly Muslims.
Today, we are bombarded with calls for a Hindu Rashtra from every quarter of the Hindutva nexus, arising in abundance in such congregational sammelans and “Hindu Ekta” events. Raqib Naik noted that more than twenty percent of hate speech occurrences documented by the CSOH in 2025 included direct allusions to places of worship, especially calls for the construction of temples in Kashi and Mathura. He further added that these calls create a ground for the destruction of mosques in these areas, a strategy that could be put to use before the next general election.
The Hindu Sanatan Ekta Padyatra, which started in Ghaziabad district of Uttar Pradesh on November 9, 2025, also saw veiled calls for the construction of a grand ‘Krishna Janmbhoomi’ Mandir in Mathura—a decades-old bone of contention that also involves the fate of the Shahi Idgah mosque, whose flames are being fanned through a habitual surfacing of the time-worn provocation: “Mandir wahi banega.”
When the Padyatra reached the district of Mathura in Uttar Pradesh on November 15, spiritual leader Devkinandan Thakur could be seen inciting the masses to recreate what was done in 1992. He also emphasised on the sanctity of the janmabhoomi, asking people to come to Vrindavan in large numbers, and to make India a Hindu Rashtra. He explicitly encouraged the crowd to participate in events historically associated with mass violence and made references to Shahi Idgah Masjid, invoking the past unrest to mobilise support for future action.
In Madhya Pradesh, a communally charged atmosphere prevailed at Mandasur on December 26, as large crowds took to the streets with swords, amid allusions to Babri Masjid, and calls to build a Krishna Janambhoomi Mandir. The very next day, speaking at a VHP-Bajrang Dal-organised Shaurya Yatra at Jabalpur, Hindutva activist Kishan Prajapat stirred conspiracy theories about Muslim men, besides making provocative remarks on alleged destruction of Hindu temples, and the “reclamation” of Kashi Vishwanath and Krishna Janmabhoomi.
Sadhvi Saraswati, notorious for her hate-filled speeches, reiterated the call to take back Kashi and Mathura by falling back on another popular catchphrase: “Abhi toh kewal jhaaki hai, Mathura-Kashi baaki hai.” Saraswati’s hate-fuelled career was essentially kick-started by the VHP, Raqib Hameed Naik added, indicating how the Hindu Sammelan events enjoy close ties with prominent Indian right wing organisations, echoing their political goals through spiritual posturings.
The strategic location of these yatras, notably the bigger ones, in places like Ayodhya, Kashi, Mathura and Vrindavan can be seen as a deliberate move towards the consolidation of a Hindu base to actualise extra-judicial acts of demolition and violence. Dhirendra Kumar Shastri’s 10-day padyatra in November 2025 also culminated at the Banke Bihari Temple in Vrindavan, which is similarly embroiled in religious dispute.
In this manner, popular sentiment is mobilised towards the cause of the consecration of the holy land, “janmbhoomi,” framed as a civilisational or moral duty for jagrit Hindus.
How Communal Mobilisation Fuels Vigilantism
The speeches made at Hindu sammelans and yatras posit a dangerous tendency to mobilise the people in the direction of extremist violence. Often unchecked by the domain of socio-legal apparatus, and carried out under the supervision and protection of the state and the police, these provocative speeches nonetheless have lethal material consequences, which are often preempted by the distribution of arms or calling for mass action.
The fact that these yatras have been allowed to proliferate with almost no legal ramification, points to the disturbing immunity that the state provides in allowing and often siding with these elements. Such events directly conflict with the Constitution’s commitment to a secular state and violate the guarantees of freedom of religion under Article 25 as well as equality and non-discrimination under Articles 14 and 15. Many of the statements made in such rallies raise serious concerns regarding the statutory prohibitions under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), as well as established Supreme Court jurisprudence on hate speech and incitement.
It did not take long for the violent rhetoric to metamorphose into brazen unlawful vigilantism, as self-appointed enforcers of the Hindutva ideology took it upon themselves to police food habits, public spaces, and the everyday lives of minorities.
In November 2025, in the aftermath of Baba Bageshwar’s Sanatan Ekta padyatra, self-styled cow vigilante Daksh Chaudhary took to the streets in Mathura with his aides, to ensure that the dictum of the Baba was being respected. Some days ago, Dhirendra Shastri had advocated a ban on the sale of liquor and meat in the holy land of Mathura, which is believed to be Lord Krishna’s birthplace. Chaudhary, Akku Pandit, and Abhishek Singh recorded themselves physically intimidating people away from liquor stores and forcefully closing down their shutters, before exhorting the people of Vrindavan to come out in the streets and follow in their stead. In another video, he can be seen attributing his vigilantism to the words of Baba Bageshwar; the latter, in turn, would go on to convey a message of respect for the actions Chaudhary and his ‘team’ had taken for an “alcohol-free” Vrindavan.
Instances of “love jihad” vigilantism have also seen a noticeable spike. On December 27, right-wing activist Rishav Thakur, accompanied by at least 25 men, barged into a café in UP’s Bareilly, to protest a birthday party over claims that Muslim guests had been invited. In the process, Thakur and his associates allegedly assaulted the Muslim students, and raised objectionable slogans. A video of this “intervention” was uploaded by Thakur on his personal Instagram handle, clearly showing the mob physically intimidating the two Muslim attendees at the event.
Moreover, the state’s failure to intervene in these matters communicates the privilege of a carte blanche, which, over time, calcifies into the common knowledge that majoritarian incitement and extremist speeches carry no real cost. It also redefines the boundaries of what is acceptable or not, reinforcing communally charged narratives and justifying the use of violence to assert control over public spaces.
(Prantik Ali holds a Master’s degree in English Literature from Jamia Millia Islamia, and interns as a fact-checker at Alt News. He has previously written for Maktoob Media.
Samra Iqbal is currently a Young India Fellow at Ashoka University. She recently completed her undergraduate studies in English literature from St. Stephen’s College, Delhi University. She is also a freelance journalist and has previously covered stories for The Frontline, The Quint and Maktoob Media)