A day with the women who sprayed anti-Muslim graffiti. They are Meerut stars
At a Holi celebration hosted by former BJP MLA Sangeet Som in Meerut, dozens of young men beelined toward two women standing in a corner: Shradha Rajput and Sandhya Rajput. The women, who belong to Hindu Raksha Dal, have emerged as local heroines since scrawling anti-Muslim graffiti on a crash barrier along the Uttarakhand-Delhi highway. Their act has catapulted them into becoming new Hindutva icons — and they are relishing it.
“These men want to join us. We all have the same target — Muslims. And our goal is to protect our mothers and sisters from ‘love jihad’,” said 35-year-old Shradha, with a newfound flair in her demeanour. “These young men feel more confident now.”
Shradha and Sandhya filmed themselves spray-painting “Musalmano ke liye yeh sadak nahi hai (This road is not for Muslims)” on the highway on the night of 26 February and posted a 17-second reel boasting about it, with chants of “Jai Shri Ram.” An FIR has been registered against them, but the women say it is “like a jewel in our crown”.
For the new female faces of an aggressive Hindutva cause, life is suddenly hectic. One day they are spray-painting the public infrastructure; the next, they are off “rescuing” Hindu women. Right now, their mission involves rescuing a Hindu woman from her Muslim boyfriend in Uttar Pradesh’s Saharanpur.
They joined Hindu Raksha Dal in 2024, five years after its emergence as a self-styled vigilante outfit. They wholeheartedly support the organisation’s campaigns: reclaiming temples and ‘protecting’ cows, movements that gained momentum following the 2019 Ayodhya verdict. The group claims to be bolder and more aggressive than the Bajrang Dal, and says it has built a network of over 50,000 members across India.
For the women, their newfound popularity has further emboldened them. Their WhatsApp and Instagram accounts now beep constantly with congratulatory messages. “Aapne bahut dileri ka kaam kiya hai (You have done a brave job),” read one message.
With each young man they met at the BJP leader’s Holi party, they recounted their acts of “bravery”: distributing sticks to one lakh Hindus in Uttarakhand, vandalising a dargah, and claiming to have “saved” 30 women from so-called ‘love jihad’ in Uttarakhand.
Their days revolve around making frantic calls to volunteers, asking them to track areas where Hindus and Muslims live side by side, or where there are Muslim-owned shops. They refer to these places as “target areas”. They are constantly on social media, monitoring online activity of Muslims.
These days, the women say they are “fighting for justice” for a Gujjar ‘girl’ from Saharanpur they claim ran away with a Muslim ‘boy’ on 24 February. They allege that the Hindu girl has been trapped and brainwashed, and insist she must be “rescued.” The young woman, meanwhile, posted a video on social media stating that she was not a minor and had left home of her own free will.
“I am an adult and I came on my own,” she said in the video, dismissing allegations of coercion.
As news spread, Hindu groups convened a panchayat in the village. Shardha and Sandhya were part of it. It was there that it was decided the house of the Muslim man should be bulldozed and the woman “returned” to her community.
https://theprint.in/ground-reports/hindu...68406/?amp
At a Holi celebration hosted by former BJP MLA Sangeet Som in Meerut, dozens of young men beelined toward two women standing in a corner: Shradha Rajput and Sandhya Rajput. The women, who belong to Hindu Raksha Dal, have emerged as local heroines since scrawling anti-Muslim graffiti on a crash barrier along the Uttarakhand-Delhi highway. Their act has catapulted them into becoming new Hindutva icons — and they are relishing it.
“These men want to join us. We all have the same target — Muslims. And our goal is to protect our mothers and sisters from ‘love jihad’,” said 35-year-old Shradha, with a newfound flair in her demeanour. “These young men feel more confident now.”
Shradha and Sandhya filmed themselves spray-painting “Musalmano ke liye yeh sadak nahi hai (This road is not for Muslims)” on the highway on the night of 26 February and posted a 17-second reel boasting about it, with chants of “Jai Shri Ram.” An FIR has been registered against them, but the women say it is “like a jewel in our crown”.
For the new female faces of an aggressive Hindutva cause, life is suddenly hectic. One day they are spray-painting the public infrastructure; the next, they are off “rescuing” Hindu women. Right now, their mission involves rescuing a Hindu woman from her Muslim boyfriend in Uttar Pradesh’s Saharanpur.
They joined Hindu Raksha Dal in 2024, five years after its emergence as a self-styled vigilante outfit. They wholeheartedly support the organisation’s campaigns: reclaiming temples and ‘protecting’ cows, movements that gained momentum following the 2019 Ayodhya verdict. The group claims to be bolder and more aggressive than the Bajrang Dal, and says it has built a network of over 50,000 members across India.
For the women, their newfound popularity has further emboldened them. Their WhatsApp and Instagram accounts now beep constantly with congratulatory messages. “Aapne bahut dileri ka kaam kiya hai (You have done a brave job),” read one message.
With each young man they met at the BJP leader’s Holi party, they recounted their acts of “bravery”: distributing sticks to one lakh Hindus in Uttarakhand, vandalising a dargah, and claiming to have “saved” 30 women from so-called ‘love jihad’ in Uttarakhand.
Their days revolve around making frantic calls to volunteers, asking them to track areas where Hindus and Muslims live side by side, or where there are Muslim-owned shops. They refer to these places as “target areas”. They are constantly on social media, monitoring online activity of Muslims.
These days, the women say they are “fighting for justice” for a Gujjar ‘girl’ from Saharanpur they claim ran away with a Muslim ‘boy’ on 24 February. They allege that the Hindu girl has been trapped and brainwashed, and insist she must be “rescued.” The young woman, meanwhile, posted a video on social media stating that she was not a minor and had left home of her own free will.
“I am an adult and I came on my own,” she said in the video, dismissing allegations of coercion.
As news spread, Hindu groups convened a panchayat in the village. Shardha and Sandhya were part of it. It was there that it was decided the house of the Muslim man should be bulldozed and the woman “returned” to her community.
https://theprint.in/ground-reports/hindu...68406/?amp
teachings of the Bible are so muddled and self-contradictory that it was possible for Christians to happily burn heretics alive for five long centuries. It was even possible for the most venerated patriarchs of the Church, like St. Augustine and St. Thomas Aquinas, to conclude that heretics should be tortured (Augustine) or killed outright (Aquinas). Martin Luther and John Calvin advocated the wholesale murder of heretics, apostates, Jews, and witches. - Sam Harris, "Letter To A Christian Nation"
