The long march to Hindu Rashtra: From meat ban to ‘Mandir Wahi Banega’ – Bageshwar Baba’s padyatra had it all – Alt News

The 10-day ‘Sanatan Hindu Ekta Padyatra’ organized last month by Hindutva icon Dhirendra Shastri lived up to expectations as the apparently ‘apolitical’ rally turned into a platform for aggressive political posturing and championing the cause of a Hindu Rashtra. From meat and liquor ban to ‘ghar wapsi’ of ‘Love Jihad’ victims to ‘Mandir Wahi Banega’ to veiled threats to non-Hindus, the rally had it all.

Shastri, more popularly known as Bageshwar Baba, led the ‘walk’ from Delhi to Vrindavan to mobilize Hindus – ostensibly for the preservation of their religion and culture. However, during the course of the march, Shastri gave speeches that were unapologetically communal in tone and implication. 

Take, for instance, this pledge, taken by Shastri in the presence of thousands of saffron-clad devotees, in UP’s Mathura: “Hum sab Hindu shapath lete hai, Hindutva ke liye karya karenge, Hindutva ke liye jeeyenge, aur Hindutva ke liye hi marenge…Hum sab Hindu shapath lete hai Bharat ko Hindu Rashtra banakar rahenge.”

As the head of the Bageshwar Dham temple in Chhatarpur, Madhya Pradesh, Shastri wields considerable influence as a Hindutva ideologue, blending the realms of the spiritual with the political. In February this year, the Prime Minister himself referred to Shastri as a ‘younger brother’, indicating Shastri’s importance in the scheme of the BJP-led majoritarian nationalist ideology.  

Alt News explained in detail what Shastri’s legacy was and why PM Modi’s endorsement of him was problematic.

As the padyatra marched on through the Delhi-Yamuna express highway, the social media handles of Bageshwar Dham recorded teeming masses of devotees waving the saffron flag, fighting to catch a glimpse of the seer.  

Among the many pledges adopted for the padyatra were the calls to protect Sanatam Dharam, to unite all Hindus in India disregarding caste differences, to ensure the ‘ghar-wapsi’ of those who had fallen prey to ‘Love Jihad’, and to protect cows from being slaughtered. Shastri repeatedly insisted that the padyatra was neither a space for hostility, nor a vehicle for communal fracture. He framed it as a gesture of harmony, claiming that its purpose was to cultivate bhai-chara (brotherhood) across communities. He insisted that the future of Hindus in this country could only be secured once Hindus were able to look past ‘bhedbhav’ (discrimination) and ‘chhuachhut’ (untouchability), and come together as ‘Sanatanis’ to preserve their community. 

However, the rhetoric of fraternity sat uneasily with the actual political grammar of the padyatra. 

Vocabulary of ‘Ekta’ Vs Grammar of Fear

The padyatra sought to lay a rhetorical groundwork for the establishment of a Hindu Rashtra. This hinged on the repeated voicing of the idea of a ‘jagrit’ (awakened/vigilant) Hindu community, and on the insistence that ‘Hindu jaag rahe hai’ (‘The Hindus are waking up’) – offering the mythos of a once-powerful community ready to wake up from its slumber, and unite under the common banner of Sanatan Dharam. In one such speech, Shastri asserted: “Taaqat toh itni hai Hinduyon ke andar, ki ye apne aap pe aa jaye, toh Lahore mai bhi bhagwa lehra de.” (“Hindus are so strong that once they set their mind to it, they can wave the saffron flag all the way out in Lahore.”)

At Mathura, Shastri’s tried to urge the Hindu community to unite for the fulfilment of Hindu Rashtra as a political project: “Hindu Rashtra tab baney jab baney, par hum Hindu ban jaaey, yeh bahut zaruri hai.” (“A Hindu Rashtra shall be created in its own time. But first, it is important that we all embrace Hinduism.”) He went on to say “Iss desh mai janam lene wala har vyakti Hindu hai – ab woh na maaney woh uski kamzori hai.” (“Every person to have taken birth in this country is a Hindu. If someone refuses to accept that, it’s their weakness.”) \

He also highlighted how caste fractured the Hindu community, and entreated his listeners to unite under the common banner of Sanatan Dharam. Moreover, he used the recent terror attack in Delhi as a segue to instill fear and paranoia among his devotees, by claiming that the next explosion could potentially happen in the listeners’ own neighbourhoods, orchestrated by doctors.

Shri Madhavanand Maharaj, one of the attendees of the congregation, drew up a parallel between the present state of Hindus in India to the state of the Jewish population in Israel. He reminded the audience that the gathering should not elicit happiness, since the state of Hindus, who fond themselves fighting for their own survival in ‘their own country’, was deplorable.

On the concluding day of the padyatra, Dhirendra Shastri’s guru, Swami Rambhadracharya, delivered a speech in front of a massive crowd, where he promised to conduct another ‘Sanatan Hindu Ekta Padyatra’ – this time, from Delhi to Kashmir. He also spoke about the importance of enforcing the Uniform Civil Code, not forgetting to note the injustice of Hindu couples birthing two children, while Muslims go around having more than 25 children: “Ye thodei, ki Hindu 2-3 balak hi utpanna karey, aur inke yahan behno ki 25-25 balak ho jaaye.”

Celebrity Participation

The padyatra also succeeded in drawing a cast of high-profile figures from Bollywood, cricket, and the entertainment industry, who openly endorsed the ‘civilizational’ initiative taken by Baba Bageshwar, and gave speeches promoting Hindu unity.  

While passing through Faridabad, former cricketers Shikhar Dhawan and Umesh Yadav joined the procession, accompanied by wrestler The Great Khali. 

In Mathura, several prominent film and television personalities, including Shilpa Shetty, Rajpal Yadav, and Ekta Kapoor, also made appearances and gave speeches. 

Besides, several regional poets, singers, and orators, including the likes of Swati Mishra, Amit Sharma, Kirtidan Gadhvi, Madhu Mohini Upadhyay, Jaya Kishori, Sant Prakash Das Maharaj, and others, were also a part of the foot march. Music artists Jubin Nautiyal and B Praak also participated in it.

On November 11, Suresh Chavhanke, managing director and editor-in-chief of propaganda outlet Sudarshan News posted videos of himself walking hand-in-hand with Dhirendra Shastri during the march. He was also seen interviewing former BJP spokesperson Nupur Sharma. Readers should note that Suresh Chavhanke and his channel Sudarshan News amplifies divisive communal propaganda and disinformation on a regular basis.

Controversial political figure T Raja Singh joined the padyatra to amplify his longstanding demand for declaring India a Hindu Rashtra. His presence is significant, given his history of inflammatory speeches, repeated hate campaigns against Muslims, and multiple criminal charges – including intimidation, conspiracy, unlawful restraint, kidnapping, and rioting. Alt News has documented this in detail. 

Dhirendra Shastri’s padyatra also attracted several ministers from the BJP. Former Madhya Pradesh minister  Narottam Mishra participated in the padyatra. Alok Sharma, the BJP MP from Bhopal, also took part, rousing the crowd by asking, “Aap sab Hindu Rashtra banane ke liye taiyyar hai?” (“Are you all ready for a Hindu Rashtra?”). Haryana chief minister Nayab Singh Saini and his Madhya Pradesh counterpart Mohan Yadav also walked alongside Baba Bageshwar, advocating that Hindus should unite to further the cause for a Hindu Rashtra. 

From the Podium to the Streets

Devkinandan Thakur, a popular spiritual orator, exhorted Hindus to follow the path of their ancestors who had walked to Ayodhya in 1992 to mobilize support for the construction of Ram Mandir. He juxtaposes this with the following question: “Kaun kaun chahta hai ki Mathura ki taraf chalna chahiye?” (“Who wants a foot march all the way to Mathura?”) – adding fuel to the Krishna Janmabhoomi dispute. Since 2020, a number of civil suits have been filed across Agra and Mathura for surveys of the Shahi Idgah Mosque, alleging that the true ‘birthplace’ of Krishna was located beneath the mosque, and not in the adjacent premises of the Krishna Janmasthan Temple Complex.

Shastri himself raised the issue in one of his speeches, where he stressed the importance of Hindus demonstrating their unity. He added: “Intezaar kar rahe hai court ka, aadesh aa jane do – par mandir toh wahi banna.” (“We are waiting for the court’s verdict, let the decision come – but it is certain that the temple will be built there.”)

In his speech in Mathura, Shastri pledged to ban the sale of meat and liquor in Vrindavan, as it happened to be the holy birthplace of Krishna. The next day, Shastri once again pleaded to Vrijwasis to close down all liquor stores in Mathura. This was also reiterated by Devkinandan Thakur, who issued a call to ban meat and madrasas in the holy land of Mathura-Vrindavan.

The import of this communalized rhetoric did not take long to translate into the everyday banality of Hindutva terror. 

Shastri’s Call Results in Direct Action

On November 17, self-styled Hindutva activist Daksh Chaudhary, with the help of his aides, Akku Pandit, and Abhishek Singh, closed down two adjacent shutters of a liquor store. He posted the video on Instagram, boasting that the group had made it all the way from Delhi to Vrindavan to close down the stores – a responsibility that he urges all Vrijwasis to take up in earnest: “Yeh kaam tum bhi kar sakte they.” (“You could have been the one to close down the shutters.”) In the video, Chaudhary and his team can be seen using abusive language and heckling the customers at the liquor shop. 

In another video, Chaudhary acknowledges how Baba Bageshwar’s speech had inspired him to take action. Having physically intimidated a small crowd of buyers away from the store, he reminds those present, before getting into his car: “Ye bandh karane ki zimmedaari aapki hai. Shuruwad humne kardi – ab iska end tum karoge.” (“It’s your responsibility to close down these stores. We started the work – you’ll finish it.”)

In all this, the imprint of the BJP’s communally polarising politics is hard to miss. The speeches in the padyatra carried a very recognizable set of anxieties: ‘Love Jihad,’ religious conversions, gau-raksha, banning of meat and liquor, and the rest of the standard arsenal of Hindutva paranoia and conspiracy theories. 

It would not be an exaggeration to claim that beneath the costume of ‘Sanatan Ekta’ lay the architecture of the modern Hindutva Right wing, with all its fantasies and anxieties culminating in the rallying cry for a ‘Hindu Rashtra.’

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