Vinay Katiyar

RadicaliserHindu NationalismHindutvaIndianExtremistRight WingHinduism

Jul 27

**DOB:** 11 November 1954

**Nationality:** Indian

**Location:** Faizabad, India
**Ideology/Affiliation:** Anti-Muslim/Right-wing Populism/Hindu Fundamentalism/Hindutva

**Type of Leader:** Hindutva Leader/Politician/Activist/Founder-President of Bajrang Dal organizations (right-wing anti-Muslim movement)

Current Status: Politician and Founder-President of Bajrang Dal organization

Biography

Vinay Katiyar is an Indian politician and the founder-president of Bajrang Dal, the Hindu nationalist movement Vishwa Hindu Parishad's (VHP) youths’ wing. He also served as the Secretary-general of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) - the current ruling party of the Republic of India and is a former member of parliament in both the Lok Sabha (Council of States) and the Rajya Sabha (House of the People). Katiyar began his political career with the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), the Sangh Parivar's student branch.

In the early 1970s, he served as the organising secretary of the ABVP's Uttar Pradesh state branch, and in 1974, he was the convener of Jayaprakash Narayan's Bihar Movement. In 1980, he joined the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) as a full-time worker, and later, in 1984, he was appointed to establish the Bajrang Dal, a youth organization devoted to the Ram Janmabhoomi movement, set up by the Government of India to construct the Shri Ram Temple in Ayodhya. Katiyar, among other extremist Hindutvas, is known for his controversial anti-Muslim statements and he is considered one of the most prominent BJP firebrand politicians in Northern India.

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Evidence of Hate Speech/Incitement:

August 2020: Katiyar was accused in the Babri Masjid (Mosque) demolition case. Ktiyar explicitly stated that the party’s agenda was to remove the Gyanvapi Mosque in Kashi and Shahi Idgah in Mathura to bring more power to the Hindutvas and "take revenge" from the Muslim "invaders".

February 2018: Katiyar issued a statement promoting violence and incitement against Indian Muslims. In his speech, he openly states that “Muslims shouldn't even be living in this country, they're the ones who partitioned this country based on their population, so why do they need to live here? They were given separate territory, they should go to Pakistan or Bangladesh, what business do they have here.”

January 2018: In an interview, Katiyar sparked controversy by claiming that the Taj Mahal, a Muslim tomb, is built on the site of a Hindu temple and should be renamed Tejo Mandir. His statement caused outrage on social media and was considered hate speech and incitement to violence against Muslims in India.

September 2003: Katiyar was accused of cleansing Mishroli, a hamlet in Rajasthan, of its Muslim people. Nearly 25 Muslim families had been ejected from their homes by armed Bajrang Dal activists who ransacked and set fire to their houses.